A  NEW  THEORY 

FOR  AN 

INDEPENDENT  TREASURY, 
FOR  THE  PEOPI.E5 

OR^AN  EXPLANATION  OF  THE  CAUSES 
OF  THE 

LATE  FLUCTUATIONS  IN  OUR  CURRENCY, 

WITH  A 

PBOPOSITION  FOR  AN  EFFICIENT  REMEDY. 


By  ROBERT  GRANT. 


BANGOR: 
SAMUEL  S.  SMITH,  PRINTER. 
1840. 


ADVERTISEMEN'T. 


While  investigating  the  important  facts,  in  relation 
to  a  National  Currency,  which  are  condensed  in  the 
following  pages,  the  reader  is  entreated  to  restrain  all 
partialities  for  men  or  measures,  which  may  influence 
his  judgment,  and  base  upon  the  great  truths  of  Nature, 
as  here  attempted,  those  conclusions  he  may  form, 
either  for,  or  against,  the  theory,  which  is  now  for  the 
first  time  laid  before  the  American  people. 

In  establishing  the  foundation  for  this  plan,  the  ar- 
guments which  are  advanced  may  at  first  seem  irrele- 
vant and  obscure.    All  nature  is  so  closely  linked  to- 
gether  by  a  chain  of  dependencies,  that  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  explain  why  a  result,  or  effect,  has  occurred, 
■without  tracing  it  to  the  cause  which  has  produced  it. 
All  causes  are  dependant  in  their  nature  upon  the  great 
First  Cause.  The  human  mind  does  not  however,  pos- 
sess capacities  to  analyze  the  Divine  energy,  our  intel- 
lectual  faculties  extending  ox^^y  to  that  point,  at  which 
we  must  cease  to  answer  the  question,  ^hy  does  such 
an  effect  occur.    A  subject  becomes  intricate,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  approximation  of  the  questions,  which  aa 
explanation  of  its  details  require,  to  those  causes  which 
are  beyond  our  capacities  to  investigate.     For  this 
reason,  the  science  of  political  economy  has  assumed  a 
complicated  character;  emanating  directly  from  those 
first  principles,  which  are  combined  in  the  formation  of 
secondary  causes,  it  cannot  be  explained  without  a 
full  elucidation  of  its  original  design,  and  capaci- 
ties    The  reader  is  therefore  requested,  to  consider 
thoroughly  each  argument  which  is  advanced  m  the 
following  pages,  however  remote  it  may  at  first  appear 
to  the  subject  under  consideration. 


PREFACE. 


When  a  crisis  arrives  in  the  affairs  of  a  nation,  which  requires 
B  change  in  the  accepted  policy  of  government,  or  an  improve- 
ment in  those  laws  which  directly  affect  tlie  welfare  gf  the  people, 
it  becomes  the  duty  of  each  individual  member  of  society,  to  in- 
vestigate the  cause,  which  may  have  produced  such  disarrangement, 
and  endeavor  to  discover  an  appropriate remedy.  Such  an 
event  has  occurred  in  the  financial  regulations  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  perplexing  to  the  government,  and  unless  spee- 
dily modified  and  improved,  ruinous  to  the  productive  interests  of 
the  people  at  large.  The  representative  currency  of  our  country, 
has  hitherto  been  distributed,  in  a  manner  hignly  disadvantageous 
to  the  welfare  of  the  community.  It  oppresses  the  opperating  and 
producing  classes,  by  controling,  and  taxing,  the  channels  of  pro- 
duction, "and  fosters  a  spirit  of  wild,  unproductive  speculation,  in 
the  distributing  departments  of  society,  directly  adverse  to  a  pro- 
gressive national  advancement  in  wealth  and  intelligence.  It  is 
generally  admitted,  that  a  serious  evil  exists  in  the  operation  of 
those  laws,  which  govern  public,  as  well  as  private  exchanges, 
but  individuals  possessing  that  information,  and  influence,  which 
should  enable  them  to  direct  a  needful  reform,  have  hitherto 
studied  the  effects,  produced  by  our  present  financial  system,  rather 
than  the  causes,  which  give  rise  to  its  injurious  tendency,  and  con- 
sequently have  discovered  no  efficient  remedy.  The  subject  has 
thereby  become  so  disconnected,  and  confused,  that  some  of  our 
most  popular  statesmen,  now  advocate  projects  of  government, 
relating  to  the  currency  of  our  country,  which  they  have  previous- 
ly proved  to  be  incorrect,  and  unsound,  in  clear  and  powerful  ar- 
guments before  the  national  councils. 

With  due  respect  to  the  opinions  of  my  fellow  citizens,  and  ac- 
tuated solely  by  a  desire  to  elucidate  truth,  and  disseminate  its 
benefits,  I  have  arranged  a  theory  of  the  mechanical  and  mate- 
rial phenomena,  of  the  production  and  distribution  of  wealth,  which 
I  shall  present  for  public  consideration,  together  with  anew  system 
of  a  national  currency,  based  upon  those  truths,  which  this  analysis 
of  wealth,  will  prove  to  be  most  subservient,  to  the  greatest  degree 
of  happiness  among  all  classes  of  mankind. 

No  Agrarian  view,  or  disorganizing  movement,  are  countenanc- 
ed by  this  plan.  It  can  be  incorporated  with  the  operation  of  pro- 
duction and  trade,  as  is  water  with  the  parched  earth, strengthening 
their  vivirying  powers,  without  decomposing  the  mass  of  mingled 
energies,  of  vv^hich  society  is  formed. 

Also  a  full  analysis  will  be  given,  of  the  first  principles,  which 
impart  to  primitive  matter,  and  inert  substance,  those  properties, 
which  are  necessary  in  the  exhibition  of  all  values. 

It  may  be  asserted,  in  continuation,  that  this  subject,  embraces 
all  that  is  sublime  and  beautiful,  in  the  study  of  material  Nature. 
|t  has  hitherto  been  distorted,  and  rendered  obscure,  by  the  efforts 


of  philosophers,  who  have  presented  a  learned  detail  of  specula- 
tions, rather  than  a  simple  concentration  of  facts.  From  this 
cause,  the  study  of  Natural,  Moral  and  Political  Economy  has 
been  neglected,  and  incorrect  deductions,  based  upon  the  imperfect 
mechanical  philosophy  of  the  last  century,  have  been  suffered  to 
exercise  an  injurious  svv'ay  over  the  minds  of  individuals,  and  the 
policy  of  onr  National  Councils. 

The  first  presentation  of  this  system  of  a  representative  curren- 
cy, will  be  commenced  in  the  foilowing  arguments,  and  there  is 
no  mechanical  adaptation  of  the  results  of  scientific  research, which 
can  be  of  so  much  consequence  in  a  political  point  of  view,  at  the 
present  time.  If  it  is  proved  to  be  unworthy  of  public  considera- 
tion, by  this  exposure  to  general  criticism,  let  it  be  refuted,  and 
the  theory  crushed  in  the  bud!  But  if  there  are  important  facts 
substantiated,  abuses  exposed,  and  a  feasible  method  for  establish- 
ing a  perfect  republican  currency,  made  clear,  and  lucid  to  the 
public  mind,  permit  it  to  be  said  of  this  system,  should  it  embrace 
so  many  features  of  public  utility,  that  it  was  first  approved  by 
the  citizens  of  the  United.  States  !  ! 


CHAPTER  I. 
On  the  Jlrst  Principles. 

When  we  are  required  to  explain  the  operation  of  any  subject 
which  comes  within  the  reach  of  human  intellect,  it  becomes 
necessary  to  classify  and  arrange  it  under  some  head,  or  leading- 
principle,  to  prevent  the  mind  from  straying,  and  confine  it  the 
more  closely,  to  the  matter  under  consideration.  The  imperfect 
foundation  which  has  previously  existed  in  the  philosophical  world, 
upon  which  to  base  deductions,  has  hitherto  been  of  serious  disad- 
vantage, to  the  furtherance  of  scientific  research.  The  accumula- 
tions of  knowledge,  have  however,  so  far  occupied  the  labyrinth  of 
material  causes,  that  we  may  now  safely  assume,  that  we  have 
arrived  at  that  combination  of  fundamental  truths  from  whence 
all  the  developments  of  matter  spring.  In  this  arrangement,  I  shall 
differ  somewhat  from  the  premises  established  by  common  consent, 
among  the  philosophers  of  the  present  day.  How  far  I  am  right, 
1  shall  leave  the  public  to  decide. 

The  first  enquiry  which  presents  itself  to  the  mind  in  the  study 
of  the  operation  of  Material  Nature,  is,  what  exists  We  are 
answered  that  the  planets,  earth,  man,  animals,  vegetables,  air, 
water,  and  every  other  phenomenon  of  which  the  mind  receives 
an  impression,  exists  !  Then,  we  inquire,  in  what  order ^  is  ivhat 
exists,  arranged  or  classed  7  To  this  it  is  answered,  that  what  ex- 
ists, is  classed  under  three  heads,  which  may  be  called  the  first 
principles,  of  fundamental  truths  of  Nature  !  !  These  are,  the  first 
principle  of  matter  ;  ihe  first  principle  of  motion,  and  the  first  prin- 
ciple of  mind  !  /  The  first  principle  of  matter,  embraces  all  the 
substance  of  Material  Nature  ;  this  is  again  divided  into  about  sixty 
distinct  classes,  or  simple  elements,  such  as  the  primitive  earths, 


5 

4. 

carbon,  the  various  metals,  &c.  By  a  combination  of  these 
particles  of  bodies,  all  the  productions  of  Nature  are  formed  ;  they 
constitute  the  tangible  and  perceptible  medium,  through  which 
every  exemplification  of  the  power,  and  wisdom  of  Deity,  is  made 
known  to  us.  Their  primitive  qualities  are,  solidity,  divisibility, 
indistructibility,  space  and  form.  They  are  all  capable  of  being 
converted  into  gasses  or  subtle  vapor,  by  violent  heat,  or  congealed 
into  tangible  masses,  by  the  abstraction  of  heat,  or  extreme  cold. 
They  are  also  susceptible  of  being  incorporated  in  the  formation 
of  organized  bodies,  and  mingle  together  in  a  dormant  state,  ac- 
cording to  their  different  affinities. 

Thelirst  principle  of  motion,  or  power,  has,  equally  with  the 
first  principle  of  matter,  an  important  position  in  the  constitution 
of  visible  Nature.  It  differs  however  from  matter,  in  the  fact,  that 
while  matter  in  itself,  is  tangible  and  perceptible  to  our  senses, 
motion  or  power,  is  inappreciable  to  us,  except  through  the  medi- 
um of  its  operation  upon  material  substance.  It  has  long  been  a 
question  of  much  perplexity  to  philosophers,  who  have  endeavored 
to  explain  the  phenomena  of  visible  Nature,  whether  motion  was 
an  inherent  attribute  of  mind  ;  or  matter  ;  or  whether  it  sprung 
from  any  other  source  ;  some  supposed  that  the  action  of  nature, 
was  a  direct  exhibition  of  power,  from  the  hand  of  Providence, 
and  that  organized  beings,  possessed  a  delegated  individual  portion 
of  that  essence,  which  existed  independently  within  themselves. 
Others  believed  that  power  was  a  natural  consequence  of  organiza- 
tion ;  that  the  world  itself  was  an  atom  among  a  complication  of 
organized  systems,  and  that  man  was  the  ultimatum  of  organized 
perfection.  Theory  is  always  acceptable,  where  experiment  is  im- 
practicable, for  this  reason,  the  principle  of  power,  has  for  so  long 
a  time,  been  a  subject  of  unsatisfactory  speculation.  Truth,  has 
however  an  inherent  property  of  progression,  and  in  compliance 
with  this  law,  the  fundamental  principle  of  action  or  force,  has  at 
length  been  discovered,  and  elucidated  by  actual  experirnent.  The 
extended  researches  in  the  science  of  Electro  Magnetism,  for  a 
few  years  past,  in  New  York  and  Baltimore,  undertaken  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  into  active  operation,  a  new  motive  power, 
has  done  more  towards  explaining  the  principle  of  action,  than  all 
the  theories  that  have  been  exhibited,  since  the  days  of  Socrates. 
By  these  experiments  it  has  been  proved,  without  leaving  a  shadow 
of  doubt,  in  the  minds  of  those  who  have  witnessed  them,  that 
the  first  principle  of  motion,  springs  from  the  action  of  the  Electric 
fluid.  The  different  exhibitions  of  this  first  motive  power,  through 
the  medium  of  material  substance,  produces  all  the  different  stages 
of  action,  both  as  seen  in  the  attraction  and  gravitation  of  the 
earth,  light,  heat, the  production  of  animal  life,  and  the  vital  sys- 
tem, the  growth  of  plants,  the  flow  of  water  and  the  rush  of  winds. 
We  can  neither  taste,  touch,  see,  smell,  nor  hear  electricity.  The 
noise  of  the  thunder,  and  the  vivid  flash  of  the  lightning,  are 
caused  by  the  combustion  of  the  gasses  of  which  the  air  is  formed, 
when  an  accumulation  of  electricity  passes  through  it.  In  fact, 
there  is  nothing,  in  the  composition  of  this  principle,  which  can 
make  it  appreciable  to  our  senses,  except  through  its  action  upon 
matter.  Our  bodies  without  the  aid  of  electricity,  would  be,  to 
all  human  perception,  perfectly  dead,  but  our  limited  faculties  do 
1* 


6 


not  permit  us  to  detect  the  vital  principle,  on  its  leaving  the  sys- 
tem. The  human  frame  is  composed  of  a  combination  of  various 
material  substances,  which  are  formed,  and  sustained,  by  a  con- 
densation of  the  electric  fluid,  received  by  the  brain,  from  the  de- 
composed air  in  the  lungs,  from  whence  it  is  distributed  to  the 
different  muscles,  and  vessels  in  the  system,  by  the  medium  of  the 
nerves,  where  it  produces  galvanic  contraction,  and  decomposition, 
as  the  functions  of  our  natures  require.  I  would  not  here  be  un- 
derstood to  assert,  that  the  electric  fluid  is  the  soul,  and  hope  to 
make  it  obvious  in  the  following  explanation  that  a  wide  distinc- 
tion exists  between  the  cause  of  action,  and  the  direction  oi^  thought. 

When  we  contemplate  the  sublime  principle  of  mind,  either  in 
connection  with  its  organized  material  body,  or  extended  immortal 
destiny,  we  find  that  it  possesses  such  varied,  and  numerous  attri- 
butes, that  volumes  might  be  filled  with  profitable  suggestions,  ex- 
emplifying its  constitution.  My  object  is,  however,  to  explain  at 
the  present  time  such  qualities  only,  as  will  clearly  point  out  its 
distinction,  Vv^hen  viewed  in  relation  with  the  first  principles  of 
matter,  and  motion.  In  the  first  instance,  I  have  shown  that  mat- 
ter, contained  all  the  substance  and  form,  of  material  Nature  ;  that 
motion,  was  the  cause  of  all  combination  and  power,  in  simple 
substances,  and  promoted  every  exhibition  of  organized  life.  I  shall 
now  attempt  to  prove,  that  mind,  is  the  directing  and  governing 
principle,  without  which,  the  combinations  of  matter,  and  motion, 
would  form  a  perfect  chaos,  either  as  vievv-ed  in  the  sublime  and 
incomprehensible  operations  of  Deity^  or  considered  in  the  subor- 
dinate combinations,  delegated  to  the  control  of  man. 

In  the  human  system,  we  find  the  three  first  principles  of  matter ^ 
motion,  and  mind,  concentrated  in  their  greatest  perfection.  In  the 
first  instance,  the  germ  of  the  body,  is  endowed  witii  a  property, 
which  ennables  it  to  concentrate  a  certain  portion  of  electricity  in 
its  economy,  which  produces  growth  or  vegetation,  by  combining 
other  particles  of  matter,  in  its  proportions.  This  property  may 
be  termed  JNatural  mechanics,  or  a  branch  of  that  system  of  manu- 
factures, by  which  the  Almighty  Hand,  creates  worlds,  and  directs 
the  motion  of  spheres.  This  is  among  the  first  causes,  which  the 
mind  does  not  possess  capacities  to  investigate.  After  the  human 
frame  is  fully  developed,  we  find  that  two  classes  of  nerves  take 
their  rise  from  the  brain,  having  entirely  distmct  properties.  These 
are  called  the  nerves  of  sensation,  and  the  nerves  o/f  volition,  or  the 
nerves  of  feeling,  and  the  nerves  of  motion.  Divide  the  nerve  of 
sensation,  and  all  feeling  leaves  the  limb  to  which  it  is  communi- 
cated. Disconnect  the  nerve  of  volition,  leading  from  any  portion 
of  the  body  to  the  brain,  and  all  action  ceases  in  that  part  at  once. 
Divide  the  nerve  of  volition  leading  to  the  tongue,  and  although 
that  organ  will  cease  to  move,  still  the  sense  of  taste  remains.  In 
the  same  manner  the  eye  can  see,  and  the  hand  feel, although  they 
may  be  deprived  of  all  power  of  motion.  The  organs  of  smelling 
and  hearing,  have  in  the  human  subject,  small  sized  nerves  of  voli- 
tion,but  they  still,in  common  with  the  other  senses,  are  subject  as  far 
as  their  capacities  extend,  to  the  same  laws.  It  is  a  well  known 
fact  that  through  the  medium  of  the  five  senses,  the  mind  receives 
every  impression  of  external  Nature.  The  soul  without  the  me- 
dium of  the  senses,  would  be  in  the  body,  like  a  man  in  a  dungeon, 


7 


excluded  from  all  communication  with  the  world.  The  senses 
rnay  indeed  be  termed,  the  portals  of  the  soul.  Jf  then,  the  nerveig 
of  volition,  which  act  directly  on  those  organs  of  animal  economy 
requiring-  a  display  of  power  to  develope  their  capacities, — are  en- 
tirely distinct  from  the  nerves  of  sensation,  which  require  no  power 
to  effect  their  purpose,  we  may  safely  assert,  that  three  distinct 
principles  are  manifest  in  the  composition  of  the  human  system. 
This  fact  may  be  further  proved  by  the  action  of  the  galvanic  bat- 
tery upon  the  body  of  a  sound  healthy  man,  within  a  few  hours 
after  death.  On  an  application  of  the  poles  of  a  concentrated  bat- 
tery, to  the  base  of  the  brain  from  which  the  different  nerves  spring;, 
and  the  extremity  of  a  limb  or  any  portion  of  the  members  which 
3'ou  wish  to  experiment  upon,  that  portion  of  the  body  is  instantly 
put  in  violent  action.  The  teeth  are  set,  the  eyes  roll,  the  lungs  re- 
spire, the  voice  is  uttered,  the  heart  beats,  the  stomach  digests  its 
food,  the  limbs  are  thrown  into  contortions,  and  in  fact  every  ap- 
pearance is  shown,  which  manifests  the  presence  of  life,  but  still 
the  eye  cannot  see,  the  ear  hear,  the  tongue  taste,  the  olfactoiy 
smell,  or  the  body  feel  !  And  what  is  the  cause  of  this  strange 
mystery  !  It  is  simply  because  we  can  concentrate  and  direct  elec- 
tricity, which  is  the  principle  of  motion,  to  act  upon  the  nerves  of 
volition,  while  we  cannot  call  the  soul  from  Heaven,  which  mani- 
fests itself  through  the  nerves  of  sensation,  to  direct  and  continue 
this  action,  and  produce  the  phenomenon  of  human  life. 

The  three  first  principles  when  viewed  in  tjieir  primitive  capac- 
ities, are  not  supposed  to  be  susceptible  of  either  accumulation^ or 
decrease.  Not  one  particle  of  the  simple  elements  of  matter,  is 
ever  supposed  to  be  changed  in  its  nature,  or  destroyed  so  effectu- 
ally, that  it  shall  cease  to  exist.  Electricity  also,  when  withdrawn 
from  one  position  must  be  accumulated  in  another.  Its  tendency 
is  however  to  flow  together  with  matter,  and  where  an  undue 
amount  is  gathered  in  any  body,  within  the  attraction  of  another 
body,  an  explfrsion,  of  more  or  less  violence,  takes  place,  in  the  ef- 
fort to  equalize  itself.  We  may  from  this  fact,  safely  conclude,  that 
a  perfect  equilibrium  exists  in  the  distribution  of  electricity jthrough- 
out  the  vdstness  of  space,  and  consequently,  a  diminution  could 
not  occur,  in  the  whole  amount,  without  endangering  the  equilibri- 
um of  spheres,  or  a  change  take  place  in  its  composition,  without 
an  attendant  change  in  the  economy  of  Nature  The  different 
qualities  of  mind,  arc  likewise  well  defined,  and  have  even  been 
marked  by  phrenologists  with  corresponding  developments  on  the 
surface  of  the  head.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  but  that  the  human 
mind  possesses  as  many  faculties  in  its  constitution,  as  there  are 
primitive  substances  in  the  formation  of  matter.  We  also  find  that 
these  faculties  are  similar  in  different  individuals,  of  the  same  spe- 
cies, and  that  it  is  only  by  an  improved  excellence  in  their  cultiva- 
tion, that  they  are  enabled  to  excel  each  other. 

When  viewed  as  a  whole,  the  three  first  principles  are  found  to 
be  linked  together  by  a  chain  of  dependencies,  which  spring  with 
beautiful  progression  from  matter  to  mind.  Motion  is  only  known 
through  the  medium  of  matter;  and  mind  through  the  medium  of 
motion  For  instance,  if  all  the  nerves  of  volition  w^ere  paralyzed 
in  the  human  body,  without  producing  death,  a  person  might  feel 
the  most  acute  sensations  of  pain  or  fear,  without  being  able  to 


8 


manifest  them  by  any  outward  sign.  Persons  afflicted  with  catalep- 
sy may  see,  hear,  and  feel  what  is  passing  around  them,  or  comes 
in  contact  with  their  bodies,  and  still  be  as  far  as  human  perception 
can  discover,  perfectly  dead.  Many  persons  have  been  buried, 
v;hih^  under  the  influence  of  catalepsy,  and  become  capable  of  mo- 
tion while  in  the  tomb.  Some  have  been  rescued,  and  lived  to  de- 
fscribe  their  feelings,  and  others,  have  perished,  after  returning  vi- 
tality enabled  them  to  make  desperate  efforts  for  relief  from  their 
awful  silualion.  Thus  it  will  be  seen,  that  the  elements  of  the 
first  principles, are  entirely  distinct,  refuting  by  their  constitution, 
the  theory  of  materialism,  and  pointing  directly,  by  their  progres- 
sive dependent  connection  ;  to  a  Great  First  Cause,  whose  attri- 
butes are  beyond  our  capacities  to  investigate. 

In  my  exhibition  of  the  first  principles,  J  made  no  distinction,  in 
the  definition  of  mind,  between  the  First  Cause,  and  the  dependant 
creature  man.  This  was  unnecessary  at  the  time,  as  1  was  merely 
classifying  the  principle  mind!  Neither  did  I  confine  my  descrip- 
tion of  matter,  and  motion,  to  the  sphere  of  the  earth,  on  which  we 
live.  It  may  therefore  be  necessary  to  state*  that  the  first  principle 
of  matter,  is  indestructible,  and  extends  throughout  the  systems  of 
the  universe.  That  motion  is  also  imperishable,  and  is  evervwhere 
operating  with  a  greater  or  less  degree  of  activity  either  connected, 
or  disconnected  with  matter.  Therefore  if  we  suppose  matter, 
and  motion,  to  be  imperishable,  as  distinct  substances,  we  may  also 
safely  say  that  mind  is  immortal;  and  if  matter  and  motion,  exist 
in  stupendous  systems  throughout  the  universe,  why  may  not 
mind,  which  prevents  confusion,  and  promotes  order  on  the  surface 
of  the  globe,  rule,  with  a  more  perfect  sway,  the  universe,  which 
is  evidently  created,  under  the  directing  hand,  of  some  mighty,  and 
perfect  Intellectual  Energy. 


CHAPTER  11. 
On  the  Combination  of  the  First  Principles. 

After  establishing  the  three  first  principles,  or  fundamental  truths 
of  Nature  ;  we  then  inquire,  in  what  manner  does  the  combination  of 
these  principles,  operate  to  produce  the  ultimate  ends  for  which 
they  were  created  ?  It  is  answered,  that  they  operate  in  a  mechan- 
ical manner!  !  The  movements  of  the  solar  system  is  mechanical, 
and  the  more  extended  plan  of  universal  Nature,  as  far  as  human 
perception  extends,  presents  a  series  of  complicated  and  beautiful 
mechanical  movements.  The  structure  of  the  earth  is  mechanical, 
and  every  change  on  its  surface  presented  by  the  seasons  is  me- 
chanical. Organized  life  is  a  mechanical  combination  of  simple 
substances,  and  man  is  the  most  perfect  of  mechanical  conceptions. 
Man  himself,  as  a  machine,  is  again  capable  of  manufacturing  the 
rude  materials  of  earth,  into  such  forms  as  shall  be  most  subservient 
to  his  use. 

In  classifying  mechanics,  we  may  therefore  style  the  operation  of 


9 


primitive  substance,  and  organized  matter,  such  as  plants,  animals 
&c.,  Natural  mechanics,  because  they  are  the  immediate  works  ot 
Deity.  All  increased  excellence  of  form,  given  to  any  substance,  by 
the  labor  of  man, may  be  called  artificial  mechanics,  being  the  work 
of  art.  We  may  now  ask,  what  are  the  uses,  to  which  the  pro- 
ductions of  Natural  and  artificial  mechanics,  are  subservient  ?  It 
may  be  answered,  that  they  are  subservient  to  the  use  of  man,  for 
the  promotion  of  his  comfort  and  intelligence,  and  that  these  pro- 
ductions are  called  toealth.  *  u 

We  find  in  the  classification  of  matter,  about  sixty  distinct  suD- 
stances,  or  simple  elements  In  the  classification  of  mmd,  there 
is  also,  about  sixty  individual  faculties,  or  primitive  capacities. 
A  combination  of  the  elements  of  matter,  in  various  ways,  may 
produce  several  thousand  changes,  and  each  change  be  susceptible 
of  an  indefinite  variety  of  forms.  In  the  same  manner,  the  primi- 
tive faculties  of  mind,  combine  in  the  formation  of  an  idea,  that 
idea,  manifests  itself  in  a  iva.nt,  or  in  the  production  of  a  waiit. 
This  loant  is  only  known  to  be  satisfied,  by  the  use  of  some  combi- 
nation of  material  substance,  adapted  by  labor  to  supply  that  want 
Labor  is  produced  by  the  first  principle  of  power,  directed  by  mmd 
and  acting  upon  matter.  Thus  we  see,  that  the  principles  of  mznrf, 
and  matter,  are  made  up  of  a  variety  of  distinct  elements,  each 
element  affordino-  a  distinct  result.  The  principle  of  power  is  dif- 
ferent from  Mind  and  Motion  in  its  constitution,  being  composed 
of  but  one  element,  capable  of  an  infinite  variety  of  action,  and 
fully  efficient  as  the  agent  of  7nind  to  produce  any  desired  combi- 
nation of  matter.  .     ^       ,  . 

To  give  the  greatest  efficiency  to  labor,  it  is  foimd  necessary  to 
concentrate  it  upon  the  production  of  distinct  forms  or  arrange- 
ments of  matter.     Matter  is  perhaps,  only  capable  of  satisfying 
a  want,  after  it  has  aone  through  a  number  of  changes  ;  each 
change  requiring  a  distinct  concentration  of  labor.    Adam  Smith 
calls  this  distribution  of  labor;  but  here  he  is  evidently  incorrect. 
Labor  must  either  be  concentrated  or  distributed  in  its  action  !  !  We 
could  not  certainly,  call  it  a  concentration  of  labor,  where  every 
man  produced  a  portion  of  all  the  values  which  exist  1    And  we 
could  not,  with  equal  certainty, call  it  a  distribution  of  labor,  where 
each  individual  produced  only  a  separate  article.    This  is  however 
onlv  a  disagreement  in  terms,  but  an  incorrect  term,  often  leads  the 
mind  to  false  deductions,  and  consequently,  is  in  many  cases,  as 
injurious  as  a  false  position.    To  exemplify  the  benefits  of  a  con- 
centration of  labor,  we  take  for  example  the  article  of  clothing. 
The  wool  is  raised  by  the  farmer,  who  sends  it  to  the  manufacturer 
who  makes  it  into  cloth,  from  whence  it  is  carried  to  the  tailor 
where  its  ultimate  manufacture  into  clothing  is  perfected.  Here 
the  farmer  with  the  proceeds  of  his  wool,  could  buy  a  better  ar- 
ticle, than  he  could  manufacture  himself  at  the  same  price,  provid- 
ed  there  was  a  fair  value  fixed  upon  the  dififerent  proportions  of 
labor.    There  are  various  concentrations  of  labor  upon  different 
manufactures,  which  require  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  distinct  opera- 
tions before  the  article  is  fit  for  use.    The  great  variety  of  these 
operations  however,  only  increases  the  importance  of  the  fact, 
that  concentrated  labor  is  more  efficient  than  distributed  labor  ;  for 
if  each  article  produced  for  the  satisfying  of  each  distinct  want  in 


10 


community  required  but  one  operation  to  perfect  it,  still  there 
would  be  such  a  multilude  of  productions,  that  a  concentration  of 
labor  would  be  required  in  the  production  of  wealth,  or  a  failure  in 
the  variety  and  quality  of  articles  produced,  mio-ht  be  expected. 

It  wili  therefore  be  perceived,  that  each  individual  member  of 
society,  IS  susceplible,  in  his  own  person,  of  all  ihe  wants  common 
to  mankind.  It  has  also  been  shown  that  man  individually,  is  ca- 
pable of  producing  effectually,  but  a  very  small  portion  of  that 
torm  m  any  substance,  which  satisfies  one  want.  He  is  therefore 
capable  of  producing  effectually,  only  one  form  in  substance,  but 
this  form,  he  can  produce  effectually  in  any  ffiven  quantity.  His 
own  want  for  this  particular  manufacture  islimited,  and  the  sur- 
plus produce  IS  only  beneficial  to  him,  when  it  can  be  distributed 
lor  such  other  values  produced  by  other  individuals,  as  shall  most 
conduce  to  his  comfort  and  convenience.  This  is  called  the  dis- 
tribution of  wealth. 

It  has  before  been  shown  that  man  combined  in  his  own  person 
the  three  first  principles,  but  this  fact  is  common  to  all  animals, 
iiis  organization  however,  is  superior  to  alUther  animals,  and  he 
IS  distinguished  from  the  inferior  creatures  more  particularly,  in 
the  fact  that  he   possess  a  greater  number  of  distinct  faculties  of 
mind.    Among  these  are  causality,  comparison,  ideality,  and  other 
important  intellectual  features,  which  place  him  at  the  head  of  or- 
ganized creatures,  and  constitute  him  a  reasoning  beino-  The 
mere  possession  of  these  faculties  however,  does  notennablS  him  to 
excel  even  the  brute  creation,  while  he  suffers  his  intellectual  ca- 
pacifies  to  remain  dormant.    The  diamond  onlv  excels  the  coarse 
trap  rock,  when  it  is  polished  and  exhibited  to"'the  sio-ht.     In  the 
earth  they  both  occupy  space  ;— that  capacity  emb'odying  alike 
tneir  whole  utility.    If  it  were  asked,  in  what  does  man  excel  ani^ 
mats/    It  might  be  answered,  that  man  excels  animal  in  the  exer- 
cise of  distributing  wealth.  The  beaver,  the  bee  and  the  ant  have  the 
capacity  of  producing  wealth,  but  man  alone  is  known  to  buy  and 
sell,  or  exchange  his  productions  in  trade.    The  very  exchauire  of 
Ideas  by  the  medium  of  language  promotes  the  distribution  of 
wealth.    What  would  be  the  condition  of  man,  if  nlaced  upon  the 
earth  with  all  his  faculties  in  full  perfection,  with  the  exception  of 
the  power  of  communicatincr  his  ideas  to  his  fellow  men,  and  also 
deprive  him  of  the  beneft  of  any  discoveries  that  had  been  or  were 
being  made  m  the  arts  and  sciences  !    If  this  event  should  occur 
he  would  always  remain  in  a  sava^-e  state  ;  while  his  animal  f^cuU 
ties  would  be  increased  to  a  superior  deoree  of  perfection.  There, 
would  consequently  be  no  increase  in   the  arts  and  sciences,  for 
every  man  would  be  compelled  to  invent  and  manufacture  all  the 
convenienciesoflife,  these,  in  consequenceof  his  limited  intellectu- 
al  culture,  would  consist  of  such  crude  materials  only  as  mio-ht  be 
required,  support  his  animal  existence,  while  his  intellectuafbein^r 
would  be  entirely  blank,  man  in  this  condition,  would  be  strictly 
animal,  and  the  conclusion  drawn  from  this  fact  is,  that  man  is  ena- 
bled to  excel  animals,  only  by  the  exercise  of  the  power  of  distri- 
but  ma;  wealth. 

Political  economists  have  generally  classed  wealth  under  three 
distinct  heads.  First,  that  wealth  which  is  being  manufactued 
they  class  under  the  head      production.    That^which  is  being 


11 


bought  and  sold,  is  classed  under  the  head  of  distrihution  ;  and  that 
which  is  being  used,  tliey  place  under  the  head  of  consumption. 
The  two  former  classifications  are  correct,  but  the  latter  is  inad- 
missable  in  the  eye  of  political  economy.  There,  any  value  is  only 
known  from  the  capacity  which  its  use,  has  for  supplying  a  want, 
therefore  if  any  manufactured  article  is  used  without  supplying  a 
want  it  is  destroyed  /  If  it  supplies  a  want  in  its  use,  its  value  is 
not  consumed  hixt  exckan^ed  into  another  form.  It  must  be  born  m 
mind  in  analyzing  this  question,  that  it  is  impossible  to  take  into 
consideration  the  bulk  of  the  articles  which  constitute  wealth  ;  for 
wealth  only  exists,  in  an  increased  exellence  of  form,  and  combi- 
nation of  substance,  which  ennables  it  to  produce  a  cei tain  result. 
If  in  producing  this  result,  one  particle  of  tangible  value  incorpo- 
rates its  usefulness  into  another  substance  and  capacity,  the  wealth 
would  not  be  consumed,  although  the  substance  which  formerly 
embodied  it,  might  have  entirely  disappeared  !  ,    ,      ,  , 

It  will  therefore  be  perceived,  that  wealth  can  only  be  classed 
under  two  heads  ;  udimeXy— Production  and  distribution. 

lliave  been  thus  particular,  in  the  previous  classification  of  the 
fundamental  truths  of  Nature,  that  1  might  establish  a  firm  founda- 
tion for  the  followinffar^rumerits,  against  the  present  system  of  cur- 
rency, adopted  by  the  UrntedStates  of  America.  As  these  arguments 
embrace  the  whole  system  of  Political  economy,  a  new  theory  of 
a  representative  currency,  will  be  presented,  based  upon  these 
principles.  I  have  adopted  this  plan  from  a  firm  conviction  that 
every  argument,  however  slight  may  be  its  import,  depends  entire- 
ly for  support  upon  the  foregoing  'primary  truths.  It  would  be 
equally  feasible,  to  attempt  to  build  a  house,  by  commencing  at  the 
top,  without  foundation  or  support,  as  to  lay  out  an  argument 
which  was  not  based  upon  the  fundamental  truths  of  Nature  !  ! 


CHAPTER  III. 

On  the  Production  of  Wealth 

When  we  inquire  into  the  nature  of  the  composition  of  wealth, 
we  find  that  it  consists  of  various  articles  produced  by  man,  to 
satisfy  his  wants.  Wealth  has  an  intrinsic  or  real  value  and  a  price 
which  may  bear  either  a  corresponding  or  a  fanciful  value.  The 
intrinsic  value  of  wealth,  consists  in  the  capacity  of  any  substance, 
to  produce  an  eflfect,  which  would  not  otherv^ise  take  place.  Thus 
water,  and  food,  are  neccessary  to  continue  and  perfect  animal 
life.— Clothing  is  required  to  protect  man  from  the  inclemency  of 
the  weather  ;  fire  is  indispensible  for  the  production  of  heat,  and 
the  soil  is  alone  capable  of  supplying  the  more  extended  princi- 
ples of  vegetation.  The  fanciful  value,  is  that  which  brings  sub- 
stances having  no  reproductive  value,  but  exchanged  and  upheld 
by  the  taste,  and  artificial  wants  of  community,  into  a  competition 
with  those  values,  which  are  indispensable  for  some  operatiori  in 
the  machinery  of  social  life.  A  surplus  of  any  necessary  article, 
assumes  a  fanciful  value,  when  employed  in  an  extravagant  man- 


12 


her,  or  when  the  price  of  its  purchase  is  rated  higher,  than  its  pro* 
ductive  value  justly  entitles  it  to  command.     a1i  values  depend 
on  the  labor  required  to  produce  them,  and  on  their  scarcity  com- 
pared with  the  demand  for  them  in  market.    The  intrinsic  value 
of  water,  is  equal  to  that  of  all  the  solid  articles  of  food  combined, 
but  food  requiring  a  greater  amount  of  labor  to  produce  it,  conse- 
quently demands  a  high  marketable  price,  while  Water,  which  en- 
ters more  largely  into  operations  of  domestic  economy,  and 
equally  indispensable  for  the  support  of  human  life,  has  scarcely 
any  comparative  price.    To  analyze  the  question,  we  will  suppose 
the  present  large  surplus  of  water  to  b&  reduced  to  a  quantity  just 
sufficient  to  supply  all  the  wants  of  society,  without  a  surplus.  If" 
then  this  amount  of  water  should  be  economically  used,  it  would 
be  destitute  of  a  marketable  price,  for  the  supply  requiring  no  la- 
bor to  produce  it,  would  be  still  sufficient  for  the  wants  of  commu- 
nity ;  but  if  a  speculator  should  hoard  up  a  portion  of  this  water, 
indispensable  for  some  domestic  purpose,  and  demand  a  great 
price  for  it,  the  diffi?rent  members  of  society,  rather  than  suffer  the 
loss,  would  deduct  some  poition  of  other  values,  which  we  will 
suppose  required  labor  to  produce,  and  exchange  them  for  the  wa- 
ter,  which  would  be  more  immediately  indispensable  for  their  com- 
fort.    Water  hovv^ever,  does  not  always  exist  in  such  abundance 
in  all  parts  of  the  world,  as  to  be  destitute  of  a  marketable  price. 
In  the  deserts  of  Africa,  it  often  happens  that  a  large  sum  is  paid 
by  travellers  for  water,  when  their  supply  has  failed  in  exposed  sit- 
uations, and  where  it  is  collected  with  much  labor  by  the  Arabs. 
Articles  of  value  are  often  exchanged  at  sea  for  water,  where  an 
exchangeable  surplus  occurs  in  diffi^rent  vessels  on  a  long  voyage. 

Those  articles  of  food,  which  are  most  necessary  for  the  support 
of  life,  are  also  so  plentiful  in  some  of  the  tropical  climates,  as  to 
cause  them  to  possess  very  little  exchangeable  price.  The  Friend- 
ly Islands  in  the  Pacific  Ocean,  on  their  first  discovery,  abounded 
with  fruits  and  vegetables  of  such  nutritious  character,  that  the 
Inhabitants  lived  in  comparative  idleness;  a  very  small  amount  of 
labor  being  necessary  to  produce  a  sufficiency  to  supply  their 
wants.  These  people  it  is  true,  were  in  a  savage  state,  and  requir- 
ed very  little  above  their  mere  animal  wants,  to  support  their  sys- 
tem of  domestic  economy  ;  but  then  it  must  be  remembered  that 
all  values  not  required  to  support,  and  continue  the  existence  of 
the  vital  principle,  have  intrinsic  qualities  which  are  necessary 
for  intellectual  rather  than  physical  advancement. 

There  is  a  race  of  people  in  New  Holland,  who  are  very  little 
removed  from  the  animal  state  in  their  tastes  and  habits ;  they  are 
unacquainted  with  the  use  of  fire,  nianufacture  neither  clothing  or 
domestic  utensils,  and  live  in  the  open  air  like  wild  beasts, upon 
game,  or  fruits  and  vegetables  which  grow  spontaneously  in  that 
mild  climate.  These  people  may  be  said  to  have  in  common  with 
the  instinctive  animals  no  conception  of  wealth,  as  known  in  the 
civilized  world,  and  still  are  possessed  of  the  power  of  speech, whick 
is  the  distingishing  attribute  of  man. 

The  intrinsic  value  of  those  articles  which  support  life,  is  great- 
er than  that  of  any  other  substances  in  a  comparison  of  thefr  real 
utility.  They  would  also  be  superior  to  all  other  values  in  their 
nominal  prices,  were  all  valuei  capable    of  reproduction,  and 


13 


procyred  with  the  same  certainty  and  with  a  relative  amount  of 
labor  according  to  their  utility,  as  they  enter  more  largely  than  any 
other  articles  into  the  operations  of  domestic  economy.     The  in- 
trinsic value  of  the  diamond  is  very  limited;  the  most  beneficial 
Mse  to  Which  it  is  applied,  is  for  the  cutting  of  glass,  by  the  gla- 
ziers and  other  operatives  in  that  substance.    For  this  purpose,  a 
small  diamond  is  as  serviceable  as  one  of  a  larger  capacity  :  in  con- 
iradistiiiction  however,  to  its  real  utility,  the  price  of  the  large  dia- 
mond increases  in  the  same  ratio,  as  does  the  square  of  its  solid 
contents.    The  real  utility  of  iron,  is  greatly  superior  to  that  of 
gold  and  silver,  and  if  one  of  these  substances  were  to  be  preserv- 
ed, and  the  others  destroyed,  the  public  voice  would  at  once  de- 
cide,  that  both  the  gold  and  silver  might  be  forever  completely  an- 
nihilated, if  iron  were  permitted  to  remain.    The  single  quality  of 
refined  iron,which  enables  it  to  be  converted  into  steel,  and  receive 
I      a  cuttinfT  edge,  is  worth  more  to  society  than  all  the  benefits  result- 
I      ino-  frorn  gold  and  silver  together.    What  would  one  of  our  hardy 
I      pioneers  at  the  North,  or  West,  accomplish  with  a  silver  or  gold 
i      axe,  upon  the  gnarled  surface  of  the  primeval  oaks  of  the  forest? 
The  stone  hatchet  of  the  Indian, would  be  more  serviceable  for  the 
levelling  of  the  forest,  and  paving  the  way  for  the  march  of  civili- 
zation.   Or  perhaps  a  golden  plough,  might  rival  the  golden  fleece 
I       of  fabulous  literature,  were  it  used  by  our  farmers  for  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  earth.  t  ■» 

The  above  analysis  has  shown,  thai  every  substance  has  a  deh- 
nite  intrinsic  value,  based  upon  its  real  usefulness,  or  capacity,  to 
perform  a  certain  operation,  which  could  be  performed  by  no  other 
medium.  It  would  be  no  objection  to  my  first  position,  to  prove 
that  the  operation  to  be  performed  was  in  itself  deliterious.  Opium 
and  other  narcotic  drugs,  have  a  certain  intrinsic  vah.ie  of  quieting 
the  nerves  of  sensation  ;  and  in  continuation  it  may  also  be  said, 
that  the  same  powerful  drugs,  have  the  intrinsic  value  of  pro- 
ducing a  speedy  death  if  necessary,  of  a  character  which  can  be 
caused  by  the  use  of  no  other  substances.  This  argument  may  be 
applied  to  the  analyzation  of  any  values,  and  will  be  found  to  pro- 
duce a  simular  and  equally  correct  result  in  all. 

When  we  look  around  on  the  material  woi Id,  every  thing  by 
which  we  are  aided  in  acquiring  ideas,  is  presented  in  some  form 
or  capacity,  combined  in  the  first  principle  of  matter.  Even  the 
immaterial  principle  of  mind,  is  established  in  tlie  material  body, 
acting  through  the  agency  of  organized  substance.  I]ere  w'e  can 
!  recog'nize  the  machine  alone,  our  senses  giving  no  insight  into  the 
great  mystery  which  wraps  up  the  soul.  We  can  therefore  have 
no  idea  of  wealth,  unless  it  presents  itself  in  some  substantial  shape. 
Some  of  our  most  approved  writers  have  advomicd  the  theory,  that 
wealth  as  it  appears  in  the  education  of  the  human  mind,  or  the 
training  of  a  horse,  or  any  other  animal,  is  of  itself  a  separate  pre- 
sentation, and  should  be  known,  in  political  economy  under  the 
i  name  of  immaterial  wealth.  This  reasoning  will  at  once  be  per- 
ceived to  be  false,  from  the  following  deductions.  A  fruit  tree 
might  be  said  to  possess  the  property  of  immaterial,  as  well  as  ma- 
terial wealth,  were  this  method  of  reasoning  correct.  The  one 
presenting  itself  in  the  capacity  of  bearing  fi  uit,  and  the  other  la 


14 


the  arrangement  of  form  or  class.  The  one  is  the  result  of  ih^. 
greater  or  less  degree  of  cultivation,  and  the  other  the  necessity  of 
Its  existence,  for  without  form  or  class,  there  would  be  no  definite 
substance.  A  schoolmaster  undertakes  to  teach  a  child,  andbv  dint 
of  laborious  perseverance,  instructs  him  in  the  rudiments  of  the 
different  useful  branches  of  knowledge.  On  the  same  plan  a  car- 
penter may  fashion  a  plank,  by  the  application  of  his  skill,  into  a 
beautiful  piece  of  furniture.  There  is  no  difference  in  the  abstract 
philosophical  fact,  the  only  distinction  exists  in  the  sublime  superi- 
ority of  the  immortal  soul  over  a  perishable  substance.  In  politi- 
cal economy  they  both  have  the  same  relative  quality,  being  capa- 
ble of  receiving  a  high  manufactured  excellence  without  an  addition 
of  substance. 

The  agency  of  the  electric  power,  or  the  first  principle  of  motion, 
in  promoting'  the  production  of  wealth,  consists  in  its  operation 
upon  the  different  substances  of  material  Nature,  in  a  distinct,  or 
complicated  action,  arranging  them  either  into  tools,  or  machines  ; 
a  tool  being  a  simple  part  of  a  machine,  and  a  machine  a  compli- 
cation of  tools.  This  mechanical  action,  is  again  subdivided  into 
two  distinct  operations ;  the  one  being  the  result  of  the  labor  or 
art  of  man,  the  other  as  shown  in  the  existence  of  the  animal  and 
vegetable  kingdom,  continually  renewed  in  kind,  by  the  hand  of 
Nature.  These  may  be  termed  the  productive  and  reproductive 
agencies ;  the  reproductive,  being  the  first  action  of  the  mechani- 
cal principle  embodying  animal,  or  vegetable  life,  and  the  produc- 
tive a  secondary  operation,  resulting  from  labor,  which  o-ives  an 
improved  form  and  utility,  to  the  raw  material,  without  an  Tncrease 
of  substance. 

Raw  material  may  be  divided  into  two  classes;  the  one  being 
the  reproductive,  or  vegetable  and  animal  exhibition,  of  matter,  the 
other  the  primitive  and  chemical  combination  of  those  simple  sub- 
stances, of  w^hich  visible  Nature  is  composed.  Thus  cattle,  wheat, 
cotton  and  ^timber,  form  a  part  of  the  animal  and  vegetable  raw 
material,  while  water,  minerals,  salts,  alkalies  and  earths,  quarries 
of  stone,  and  the  different  ores,  present  some  of  the  principle  sub- 
stances coniposing  the  primitive  raw  iPaterial.  They  are  in  the 
eye  of  political  economy,  established  upon  the  same  basis,  provi- 
ding the  supply  is  inexhaustable.  The  operation  of  harvesting, 
and  preparing  for  the  market,  the  reproductive,  is  equivalent  to 
mining  and  quarrying  the  primitive  raw  material.  All  primitive 
raw  material,  has  already  been  produced  to  its  greatest  extent,  and 
were  the  quantity  of  any  desirable  substance  exhausted,  there 
would  be  no  process  existing  in  the  present  operations  of  Nature 
or  within  the  control  of  man,  by  which  it  could  be  replaced.  It  is 
not  the  nature  of  reproductive  substances  to  become  extinct,  even 
were  the  whole  supply  to  be  consumed,  with  the  exception  of  a 
single  germ  of  each  kind.  This  is  not  the  case  with  these  values 
which  are  of  a  primitive  origin,  and  to  this  fact,  may  be  attributed 
the  decided  superiority  which  the  reproductive  values,  bear  over 
the  primitive,  in  consolidating  and  improving  those  nations  which 
depend  on  agricultural,  in  contradistinction  to  mineral  wealth  ;  wit- 
ness for  example  the  rapid  decline,  which  has  attended  the  influx 
of  gold  and  silver  in  Spain,  of  all  the  power  and  enterprise  of  that 


15 


once  prosperous  nation.  The  causes  which  produce  this  dispara- 
Ping  result  in  the  mining,  when  compared  with  the  agricultural 
secdons  of  the  globe,  are,  the  inability  oi  man  to  cause  a  '-eproduc- 
tion  of  any  primitive  values,  or  aftbrd  a  yearly  supply  of  the  same 
materia],  without  encroaching  upon  the  original  deposit,  conse- 
quentlv  the  supply  must  eventually  fail,  however  large  theamount 
mav  be  in  any  one  location.  Agricultural  productions  on  the  con- 
trasV  are  continually  being  renewed,  with  an  improving  utility  ot 
tlse  producing  principle,  and  consequently  increasing  the  quantity 
of -the  article  produced.  .         ,  •  ^^ 

The  chemical  combination,  and  mechanical  labor  required  to  pro- 
duce an  increased  value  in  any  primitive  or  reproductive  substance 
hv  changing  its  form,  constitutes  the  process  of  manulacturing, 
vvhile  agriculture  consists  in  directing  and  assisting  the  generative 
reproductive  principle  of  creation.    In  the  last  case  the  machinery 
of  Nature  is  most  efficient,  in  the  other  the  machinery  ot  man. 
Thus,  it  will  be  perceived,  that  those  things  which  are  of  the  great- 
est  original  intrinsic  value,  are  placed  within  our  reach  to  an  al- 
most  unlimited  . extent,  and  are  also  perfectly  inexhaustible,  while 
all  primitive  values  are  merely  of  a  local  nature,  and  liable  to  tail  in 
their  suoplv.    It  is  true  no  article  of  utility  of  a  primitive  charac- 
ter has  ks  yet  been  wanting,  but  this  only  the  more  fully  shows  the 
wisdom  of  the  great  Author  of  the  universe,  in  adapting  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  earth  to  the  wants  of  man.    If  food,  for  instance, 
had  been  a  mineral,  instead  of  an  agricultural  substance,  the  supply 
must  eventually  have  failed  ;  for  if  the  whole  surface  of  the  earth 
had  been  composed  of  mineral  food,  extending  even  to  an  unknown 
depth  in  its  original  state,  in  the  course  of  time,  an  accumulation 
of  rejected  rubbish,  would  so  choke  up  the  avenues  by  which  it 
mi-ht  be  obtained  in  some  more  favored  and  eligible  situations,  that 
it  would  be  impossible  for  the  inferior  order  of  animals  to  exist  ; 
and  man  himself,  in  the  event,  would  be  compelled  to  forego  every 
other  employment,  and  unite  in  the  drudgery  of  mining,  for  a  dai- 
ly subsistence.  „  , 
'  All  matter  when  reduced  to  its  original  elements,  as  far  as  the 
improved  philosophy  of  modern  science  is  enabled  to  trace  thein, 
consist  of  about  sixty  distinct  substances.    The  ancients  acknowl- 
edged but  three.     A  chemical  combination,  and  arrangment  ot 
these  substances,  is  continually  fitting  the  surface  of  the  earth,  tor 
the  reception  of  seed,  and  for  the  reproduction  of  the  vegetable 
material  exhibition  of  life.  This  is  again  extended  to  the  more  per- 
fect arrancrement  of  animal  vitality,  which  returns  again  atter  a 
certain  period  of  action,  to  its  original  elements,  to  be  again  col- 
lected around  another  nucleus  of  existence,  and  again  be  decompo- 
sed.    it  will  thus  be  seen  that  there  is  a  regular  rotation  in  repro- 
duction,  which  continues  to  extend  and  embody  its  kind  indeh- 
nitely,  embracing  more  or  less  of  the  general  bulk  of  ni atter  or 
primitive  substance.    The  fruits  of  the  earth  as  far  as  perfected  by 
the  machinery  of  nature,  are  thus  termed  reproductive  raw  mate- 
rial.   When  the  substance  produced  receives  an  increased  value 
of  form,  by  the  addition  of  labor,  it  is  styled  the  manufactured  ar- 
ticle.   The  reproductive  raw  material,  always  presents  itself  in  a 
certain  form,  which  is  indispensable  to  its  nature.    Thus  animals 


16 


appear  according  to  their  different  species,  each  with  a  distinct  or- 
ganization;  wheat  is  presented  in  an  obJong  grain,  cotton  in  a  fine 
white  fibre;  while  vegetables,  fruits,  and  other  material,  in  all 
their  classes,  are  produced  from  the  hand  of  Nature,  with  certain 
distinguishing  proportions  predominating  in  each.    In  the  manu- 
lactured  article,  no   definite  form  of  presentation  is  manifest. 
Wheat,  lor  instance,  can  be  manufactured,  and  compounded  with 
other  substances,  into  articles  of  such  taste  and  appearance,  as  to 
perplex  the  most  nice  discernment  of  eye,  or  refinement  of  palate, 
and  even  chemical  decomposition  to  discover  the  ingredients.  All 
the  various  manufactures,  and  presentations  of  cotton  and  wool, 
would  fill  a  large  catalogue.    As  a  great  increase  in  variety,  occurs 
Irom  the  manutacture  of  the  raw  material,  so  does  also  the  price  of 
the  article  increase,  in  proportion  to  the  labor  bestowed  on  its  pio- 
duction  or  by  the  advantage  which  may  be  taken  of  a  certain  fa- 
Cility  ot  manufacture,  or  monopoly  of  the  market  unattainable  by 
other  competitors.    For  example  a  fleece  of  wool,  may  be  worth 
.wo  dollars  in  a  raw  state,  while  the  satne  article,  manufactured 
into  fine  cloths,  is  often  valued  at  fifty  dollars.    A  bundle  of  flax 
worth  one  dollar  in  its  raw  state,  is  capable  of  beina  worked  into 
iace,  which  would  bring  five  hundred  dollars  in  market.    The  util- 
ity of  manufactures,  consists  in  the  greater  facility  and  profit,  with 
which  certain  substances  are  made  to  enter  into  the  process  of  re- 
production, when  improved  in  form,  than  they  are  capable  of  do- 
ing,  when  they  appear  as  a  raw  material  only.    A  rough  piece  of 
iron  ore  is  incapable  of  entering  into  any  of  the  mechanical  oper- 
ations, of  human  industry,  previous  to  its  manufacture  into  mate- 
rial  or  tools,  which  will  bring  out  its  original  intrinsic  value,  and 
render  it  applicable  to  some  useful  purpose. 

All  wealth  is  embraced  in  the  increased  excellence  of  the  form 
and  capacity  of  any  substance,  for  supplying  the  wants  of  man. 
Ihese  wants  are  continually  increasing  with  the  increase  of  civili- 
zation and  demand,  first,  a  supply  for  the  nexessarks.  then  the  Zwx- 
ries  of  existence.    The  use  of  any  sub&tance,  increased  in  excel- 
lence, by  a  process  of  manufactures,  transfers  this  excellence  to  any 
object,  for  the  production  of  which,  this  usl  may  be  applied 
^  or  instance  a  farmer  in  using  a  plough,  increases  the  capacities  of 
his  land  for  bearing  a  crop,  while  his  plough  is  being  worn  out.  A 
mason  fashions  a  block  of  marble,  while  his  hammer  is  decreasintr 
m  utility  by  use.    A  book  is  destroyed,  while  the  knowledge  ft 
contained  is  incorporated  in  the  intellectual  wealth  of  those  who 
read  it.    A  loaf  of  bread  is  decomposed,  and  its  value  appears  again 
in  the  renewed  strength  of  the  consumer.    Thus  it  will  be  seen 
that  wealth  is  not  identified  with  the  continuance  of  a  specified 
form  in  any  substance,  but  in  the  most  rapid  and  beneficial  transfer 
of  Its  uses.    Wealth  is  produced  by  labor,  but  the  increase  is  al- 
ways  progressive,  each  transfer  of  value,  adding  a  little  more  to 
the  bulk,  or  usefulness  of  the  articles  produced.    Wealth  however 
may  be  incorporated  into  substances  which  can  be  preserved  for 
an  indefinite  period  of  time,  when  kept  without  being  used.  Ear- 
then-ware for  instance,  when  placed  in  a  covered  and  secure  situa- 
tion, may  continue  its  form  and  capacity  thousands  of  years.  Va- 
rious earthen  utensils  have  been  found  in  the  ruins  of  Fompei,  and 


17 

Herculaneum,  and  also  in  the  Indian  mounds  ol  Western  America, 
which  were  quite  perfect.  Cuttlery,  clothing,  and  various  articles 
of  food  may  also  be  preserved  for  a  series  of  years,  in  an  inactive 
state,  wheii  a  rapid  transfer  of  their  uses  would  soon  decompose 

^^EaJh'aJticle  of  the  general  bulk  of  wealth,  will  continue  to  be 
produced,  as  long  as  its  use  will  supply  a  want,  for  the  gratification 
of  which,  it  is  found  that  an  amount  of  labor  can  be  advantage- 
ously exchanged ,  equivalent  to  the  production  of  that  article  As 
the -amount  of  labor,  required  in  the  production  of  any  article,  in- 
creases towards  that  point,  at  which  it  wou  d  be  found  advisable 
to  relinquish  its  production  entirely,  so  does  ihe  va.ue  ot  that 
article  increase  in  intensity.  From  this  fact,  may  be  shown  the 
causes  of  the  gradual  declension  of  luxurious  production  in  times 
of  scarcity,  and  also  the  real  intrinsic  worth  of  the  various  produc 
lions  are  then  presented  in  an  active  point  of  comparison  1^  or  in- 
stance, a  man  parched  with  thirst,  or  starving  on  an  inhospitable 
island.would  exchange  a  ship  load  of  gold  were  itm  his  possession, 
for  a  draught  of  water,  or  a  loaf  of  bread. 

It  will  be  observed,  that  in  the  production  of  wealth,  such  values 
as  conduce  to  the  maintenance  of  the  animal  economy,  are  first 
produced,  then,  those  values  which  promote  the  intellectual  ex- 
cellence of  the  nature  of  man.  The  continuance  of  the  animal 
economy,  is  however  more  imperious  than  the  enlightening  ot  our 
mental  capacities,  for  without  the  animal,  the  intellectual  man  is 
not  known  to  exist !  Hence  the  superior  importance,  which  the 
production  of  food  and  raiment  at  first  appear  to  assume  over  those 
values  which  cultivate  and  improve  the  reason.  Reason  is  however, 
the  only  principle  which  really  progresses,  for  matter  and  motion, are 
merely  adapted  by  their  form  and  action, to  carry  out  the  purposes  of 
mind,and  return  to  their  original  position,  after  those  ends  are  effect- 
ed It  will  therefore  be  perceived,  that  wealth  is  ultimately  in- 
corporated with  mind,  all  tangible  values  presenting  merely  a  cycle 
of  forms,  which  are  decomposed  by  use,  while  mind  improves  in 
strength  with  every  exertion  of  its  energies.  There  is  however, 
a  perfect  analogy  between  the  intensity  of  those  values,  which 
conduce  either  to  mental,  or  physical  advancement.  For  example, 
a  child  is  not  taught  the  higher  branches  of  philosophy,  before  he 
understands  the  simple  elements  of  common  education.  By  the 
same  rule,  a  laborer  does  not  devote  his  earnings  to  purchase  nne 
furniture,  when  he  cannot  afford  sufficient  food  and  clothing,  for 

himself  and  family.  ,   .  t  i 

These  facts  are  presumed  to  be  sufBcient  to  show,  that  the  law 
of  intensity  of  values  in  all  cases  control  production.  This  law  ap- 
plies indiscriminately  to  all  presentations  of  wealth,  whether  they 
appear  in  the  form  of  merchandise,  gold  and  silver,  or  in  the  im- 
proved cultivation  of  the  human  mind.  All  wealth  has  therefore, 
intriiisic  qvjiY\Uc3  which  denote  its  real  valm ;  and  an  intensity 
of  value  Vv'hich  limits  its  production. 


2* 


18 


CHAPTER  IV. 
On  the  Distribution  of  Wealth. 

By  the  distribution  of  wealth,  ail  the  arrangements  of  trade 
are  effected,  and  also  those  exchanges  of  property,  which  pass 
from  the  hands  of  the  producer  of  the  raw  material,  into  the  pos- 
session of  a  second  person.  In  the  first  formation  of  society,  very 
little,  if  any  distribution  of  wealth  was  required,  for  the  productions 
being  few  and  simple,  every  man  could  cultivate,  and  manufacture, 
those  values  which  were  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  hig 
family.  We  read  in  the  history  of  ancient  times,  of  communities, 
who  followed  the  occupation  of  shepherds  and  herdsmen,  or  obtain- 
ed a  precarious  subsistence  as  hunters.  Among  these  societies,  all 
exchanges  were  based  upon  the  labor  applied  in  obtaining  the  dif- 
ferent productions,  for  a  comparison,  of  value,  thus  we  read  of 
tribute  being  paid  in  cattle  by  an  inferior  community,  to  procure 
the  protection  of  a  more  powerful  neighbor,  or  by  an  individual  for 
the  purchase  of  a  piece  of  land,  or  a  wife,  or  any  of  those  values 
w^hich  were  then  bought  and  sold.  Labor  in  those  days,  was  con- 
sidered an  equivalent  for  the  purchase  of  any  article,  which  was 
desired  to  be  transferred.  Jacob,  is  represented  as  having  labored 
fourteen  years  for  Laban,  to  render  an  equivalent  for  Leah  and 
Rachel.  As  society  increased  in  wealth,  and  numbers,  the  neces- 
sity for  a  more  extended  system  of  exchanges  took  place,  for,  as 
an  accumulation  of  a  greater  variety  of  values  occurred,  so  did 
also  the  desire  for  bartering  the  productions,  and  effecting  such  a 
distribution  of  the  different  values  in  society,  as  would  o-ive  each 
individual  an  opportunity  of  deriving  an  advantage  from  the  use 
of  all.  The  utility  of  this  system  of  barter,  will.be  perceived, 
from  a  comparison  of  the  situation  of  the  original  Indian  popula- 
tion of  Western  America,  with  the  Anglo  Saxon  race  who  now 
inhabit  that  portion  of  the  United  States.  When  the  valley  of  the 
Mississippi  was  explored,  by  Lewis  and  Clark,  the  immense  plains 
of  that  fertile  country,  were  covered  with  herds  of  Buffalo  extend- 
ing as  far  as  the  eye  could  perceive,  in  every  direction.  Elkj 
Deer,  and  game  of  all  kinds,  were  scattered  over  those  luxuriant 
fields,  in  an  almost  inexhaustible  number.  These  natural  presen- 
tations of  wealth,  were  all  held  and  claimed  by  the  bands  of  In- 
dians, who  occupied  that  section  of  country.  Was  all  this  bound- 
less supply,  a  presentation  of  actual  wealth  to  them?  Most  cer- 
tainly not ;  for  a  lavish  supply  of  their  wants,  as  far  as  animal 
food  was  capable  of  affording  that  gratification,  was  abundantlr 
accomplished,  without  abstracting  a  thousandth  part, of  the  repro- 
ductive energy  of  the  capital  which  afforded  the  supply.  There- 
fore, all  the  surplus  returned  to  its  original  elements,  without  in- 
corporating one  moiety  of  its  results,  in  tPie  extended  operation  of 
promoting  human  life.  How  is  it  with  the  present  occupiers  of 
those  productive  plains,  as  far  as  they  have  accomplished  a  settle- 
ment. On  each  acre  of  land,  which  twenty  years  ago,  was  occu- 
pied upon  an  average  with  one  Buffalo  to  an  acre,  is  now  produc- 
ed yearly,  two  bales  of  cotton,  or  a  hundred  bushels  of  corn. 

Man  is  so  constituted  that  his  wants  are  capable  of  an  almost 


19 


unlimited  increase  ;  and  those  productions,  which  supply  these 
wants,  are  susceptible  of  as  many  exchanges,  as  in  their  number 
of  transposition.    The  cotton  which  the  Mississippi  planter  pro- 
duces, is  not  worth  more  for  actual  use,  in  the  region  in  \yhich  it 
is  raised,  than  was  the  surplus  herds  of  Buffalo  to  the  Indian  hun- 
ter, but  in  England  and  the  Atlantic  States,  which  have  entered 
into  the  manufacturing  business,  it  bears  a  high  marketable  pi  ice. 
All  wealth  was  distributed  in  the  earliest  period  of  traffic,  among 
communities,  by  the  process  of  bartering  those  commodities  for 
each  other,  which  were  of  an  actual  utility  to  the  buyer  and  seller. 
Thus  a  horse,  would  be  sold  for  an  ox,  a  given  number  of  sheep 
for  a  cow,  or  so  much  labor  as  should  be  considered  equivalent  to 
the  production  of  any  desired  article,  would  be  rendered  for  its 
purchase.    The  accumulation  of  wealth,  was  less  desired  at  an 
early  period  of  civilization  than  it  is  at  the  present  time.  When 
the  combined  wealth  of  a  community,  consisted  of  a  few  distinct 
values,  extensively  produced,  the  exchange  of  those  values,  wa» 
less  advantageous  to  those  who  bought  and  sold,  than  if  a  greater 
variety  was  offered  in  the  market.    Thus,  among  a  community  of 
herdsmen,  the  exchange  would  be  comprised  in  bartering  one  kind 
of  animals  with  their  productions,  for  another  species  with  their 
attendant  values.    A  people  who  followed  hunting  as  a  general 
occupation,  would  barter  the  spoils  of  the  chace,  and  the  fisherman 
distribute  among  those  who  were  allied  with  him,  the  results  of  his 
employment  with  the  net  or  the  line.    It  is  very  rare,  that  we  find 
a  primitive  people  engaged  in  more  than  one  general  productive 
employment.    The  Tartars  are  herdsmen,  the  Indians  of  North 
America,  hunters,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Greenland  are  dependent 
for  the  principle  part  of  their  support  on  the  fisheries  of  those  in- 
hospitable shores.    The  consequence  of  this  state  of  limited  pro- 
duction is,  that  a  great  accumulation  of  any  one  value,  become* 
burdensome  in  those  societies,  where  an  exchange  of  commodities 
can  only  be  effected  by  a  succession  of  two  or  three  distinct  trans- 
fers, the  productions  not  admitting  by  their  limited  variety  of  a 
greater  number  of  transpositions. 


CHAPTER  V. 

On  the  Capacities  of  Gold  and  Silver,  as  a  Medium  of 

Exchange. 

Among  the  accumulations  of  a  primitive  people,  ornaments  are 
found  to  occupy  a  conspicuous  place,  both  in  ancient  and  modern 
times.  When  a  historian  of  those  days,  in  which  the  dawn  of 
civilization  commenced,  wished  to  describe  a  luxurious  feast,  or 
a  pompous  parade,  he  generally  laid  much  emphasis  upon  those  pas- 
sages, in  which  the  jewels,  and  gold  and  silver  ornaments  were 
en*umerated,  thus  exhibiting  the  taste  of  the  times,  for  a  writer  gen- 
erally the  most  vividly  describes  that,  which  he  thinks  will  the 


20 


mo^l  readily  please  the  taste  of  his  readers.  The  Indians  of  North 
America  are  found  to  lavish  the  principle  part  of  their  wealth,  upon 
the  decorations  of  their  persons,  and  their  implements  of  war.  In 
Mexico,  Pizarro,  on  liis  first  penetration  to  the  capitoi  of  that  em- 
pire, found  such  an  abundance  of  gold  and  silver,  in  the  form  of 
personal  ornaments,  in  the  possession  of  the  natives,  or  used  for  the 
decoration  of  their  temples  and  shrines,  that  he  sent  it  home  to 
Spain,  by  the  ship  load,  in  bulk.  The  beautiful  texture  of  gold  and 
S!iv<;r,  and  the  quality  of  their  composition,  which  ennable  them 
to  resist  all  corroding  damps  and  acids,  render  them  peculiarly 
applicable  to  the  purpose  of  personal  ornament,  therefore  we  read 
of  this  meial,  as  being  iji  high  estimation  at  an  early  period  among 
the  ancients.  Diamonds,  pearls,  sapphires,  rubies  and  emeralds, 
also  had  their  value  in  public  estimation,  based  upon  their  qualities 
of  brilliancy  and  beauty.  The  exchange  of  articles  of  personal 
ornameut,  for  other  values  of  more  immediate  utility,  did  not  be- 
come general,  until  such  an  increase  occurred  in  the  ,  production 
and  variety  of  those  substances,  which  formed  the  staple  Wealth 
of  those  times,  that  it  vv^is  found  impossible  to  perfect  a  satisfactory 
system  of  traffic,  without  some  general  medium. 

The  complication  of  the  genera!  exchanges  in  the  course  of  trade, 
increases  with  the  accumulation  of  diflerent  values,  in  a  ratio, which 
requires  only  to  be  calculated,  to  convince  any  one  of  the  utter  im- 
possibility of  bartering  the  material  productions  for  each  other  ex- 
tensively, without  a  general  medium.    To  give  a  definite  idea  of 
what  is  stated,  a  calculation  of  the  variety  of  exchanges  may  ba 
made,  from  two  up  to  twenty  thousand,  about  the  average  number 
of  different  values  supposed  to  be  in  the  market  at  the  present  time, 
and  they  wilJ  be  found  to  increase  in  this  ratio.    For  two  articles 
of  value,  there  is  one  exchange  ;  for  eiglit  values,  twenty  eight  ex- 
changes, and  for  twenty  six  values,  three  hundred  and  fifty  one  ex- 
changes  !  !    it  will  be  perceived  from  this  calculation,  that  however 
valueless  a  general  medium  of  exchange  would  be,  when  two  arti- 
cles only  were  required  to  be  transferred,  it  would  become  indis- 
pensable, when  there  was  twenty  six  exchangeable  values  in  com- 
munity !    Still  it  must  be  observed,  that  all  values  produced  for  the 
use  of  man,  are  not  required  to  be  transferred.    AM  values  in  actu- 
al use,  are  generally  consumed  by  the  possessor;  we  may  set  down 
however  under  the  head  of  exchangeable  vahies,  all  raw  material 
not  employed  in  the  process  of  reproduction.    This  comprises  the 
yearly  agricultural  crop,  and  the  production  of  mines  and  of  the 
ocean.    A  fair  calculation  therefore,  would  give  about  one  tliirtieth 
part,  as  the  proportion  of  those  values  distributed  by  trade  in  a 
community.    That  community  must  be  very  destitute  which  is  not 
possessed  of  sonie  two  or  three'^  thousand  exchangeable  commodities, 
at  the  present  time  ;  and  we  may  infer  from  the  historical  accounts 
of  ancient  times,  that  at  an  early  period  a  general  medium  of  gold 
and  silver  began  to  be  substituted,  for  the  original  system  of  direct- 
ly trafficing  the   different  commodities  by  barter  trade  in  the 
open  market. 

It  is  not  supposed  that  a  direct  law  was  at  any  time  enacted, 
to  give  gold  and  silver  the  preference  as  a  medium  of  exchange, 
but,  it  is  the  more  readily  presumed,  that  it  gradually  arrived  at 


21 


that  distinction  by  common  consent,  in  the  natura  order  of  things. 
\t  first,  trade  was  simple  and  easily  accomplished  by  banering 
"the  few  articles  of  raw  material  directly  in  the  marlu^t.  /  ^« 
variety  of  values  increased,  the  sellers  found  difficult  to  meet 
with  purchasers  who  could  exchange  such  commodities  for  their 
produce  as  would  be  agreeable  to  both  parties.  The  consequence 
was,  that  they  gradually  agreed  upon  such  articles  of  value  horn 
the  common  slock,  as  they  could  most  easily  dispense  with  and 
converted  them  into  a  currency,  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  a 
more  efficacious  distribution  of  the  remaining  wealth. 

Gold  and  silver,  in  receiving  the  preference  for  a  general  curren- 
ry,  was  indebted  to  ik>  particular  utility,  which  rendered  i  more 
efficacious  than  other  values  as  a  portion  of  the  general  wealth;  it 
may  even  be  said  to  be  less  efficient  than  many  other  substances, 
for  the  promotion  of  human  happiness;  its  peculiar  qualities  of  di- 
visibilil^y.  incorruptibility,  endurance  scarcity  and  intensity  of  value 
influenced  the  choice,  and  gave  that  direction  to  its  use.  When 
any  article  of  value  is  converted  into  a  medium  of  exchange,  or  a 
nalional  currency,  the  original  use,  upon  which  its  value  as  a  cur- 
rency is  based,  is  suspended  for  the  time,  and  a  representative  val- 
ue, dependent  upon  its  facility  for  an  immediate  transfer,  into  those 
articles  of  use,  for  which  it  was  originally  created  is  instituted, 
which  continues  while  it  passes  in  general  trade  as  a  coin 

The  increased  production  of  gold  and  silver,  resulting  trom/^^ 
discovery  of  America,  and  the  proceeds  of  the  rich  mines  of  Mex- 
ico  and  Peru,  caused  a  reduction  of  the  price  of  the  precious 
metals  in  a  ratio  corresponding  to  their  actual  increase,  above  the 
demand  for  them  in  market.  The  cause  of  this  decrease  resulted 
from  a  depreciation  in  the  activity  of  their  intrinsic  value,  ^or 
instance,  the  increase  of  population  and  luxury  in  society ,  demands 
a  correspondino-  increase  of  all  available  substances,  required  lor 
the  use  of  man.  If  the  progression  of  all  values  snould  be  equal, 
the  distinction  in  the  price  of  each  substance  would  continue  the 
same  ;  but  should  any  one  valu^  be  produced  in  an  unusual  abun- 
dance, while  the  remainder  of  the  general  mass  of  wealth  receiv- 
ed but  a  fair  averao-e  proportion  of  increase,  the  price  ot  the  in- 
creased value  would  fall,  in  proportion  to  its  comparative^ advanced 
production.  For  instance,  gold  and  silver  was  advanced  just  lour 
fold  in  its  actual  quantity,  and  comparative  increase,  by  the  dis- 
covery of  the  continent  of  North  and  South  America.  In  conse- 
quence,  one  dollar  four  hundred  years  since,  was  worth  as  mucti 
of  the  general  bulk  of  wealth,  as  four  dollars  is,  at  the  present 

At^the  same  time  that  the  price  of  any  given  quantity  of  gold 
and  silver  is  decreasinir,  in  comparison  with  the  price  ot  a  given 
portion  of  the  general  inass  of  wealth,the  whole  value  of  the  precious 
metals,  is  also  decreasing  in  proportion  to  the  increase  of  the  coni- 
bined  values  of  all  other  substances  over  the  whole  amount  ol  gold 
and  silver.  From  this  view  of  the  subject  it  will  be  seen,  that  al- 
though the  actual  value  of  any  substance  may  increase  with  its 
quantity,  still  the  comparative  price  of  the  whole  bulk  will  not  be 
advanced,  over  the  price  of  other  substances  which  were  lavored 
with  no  superior  advantages  of  production,  unless  its  actual  uses 


22 


advanced  also  Thus,  if  lead  is  six  cents  a  pound  and  iron  six, 
tne  discovery  of  a  position  where  double  the  quantity  of  lead  could 
be  obtained  with  one  half  the  labor,  without  increasino-  the  demand, 
would  at  once  reduce  the  lead  to  three  cents  a  pound  ;  the  iron 
still  remaining  at  six  cents,  thus  equalizing  the  price,  althouo-h 
the  actual  amount  would  be  doubled. 

The  intrinsic  value  of  any  substance  increases  with  the  increase" 
ot  Its  use.  Therefore,  it  is  impossible  to  fix  an  actual  comparative 
value  on  any  article,  for  the  price  of  all  substances  are  continualiv 
fluctuating  with  the  wants  of  the  community  ;  the  general  averacre 
proportion  can  be  ascertained  however,  and  this  wiil  be  found  lo 
apply  indiscriminately  to  all  those  substances  of  which  wealth  is 
composed.  On  this  analysis  therefore,  we  may  found  the  follow- 
ing  position.  When  there  are  two  values  in  community,  gold  and 
Silver  being  due,  the  gold  and  silver  will  purchase  the  correspond- 
ing  value  ;  when  four  values  are  created,  gold  and  silver  still 
lorming  one,  the  precious  metals  will  buy  but  the  fourth  part  of 
the  public  wealth,  and  when  five  thousand  substances  each  worth 
as  mucn  as  the  whole  amount  of  gold  and  silver  in  the  country 
are  created,  the  precious  metals  will  then  sufiice  to  purchase  but  the 
onehve  thousandth  part;  let  its  intrinsic  value  be  either  ex- 
panded or  condensed,  as  the  production  of  bullion  may  meet  the 
pubhe  demand  or  fall  below  it 

Gold  and  silver  like  any  other  merchandise,  depends  upon  its 
quantity  for  the  activity  of  its  intrinsic  values.    For  instance,  we 
will  suppose  food  to  be  reduced  to  a  quantity,  just  sufficient  to 
support  animal  life,  the  immediate  value  of  that  portion,  would  be 
equal  to  the  value  of  the  existence  which  it  was  intended  to  pre- 
serve but  that  portion  necessary  to  continue  health,  and  comfort 
wou.d  be  sacrificed.    If  the  supply  of  gold  and  silver,  should  be' 
increased  to  an  unlimited  quantity,  the  actual  value  of  that  sub- 
stance as  a  metal,  would  be  increased  to  the  full  extent  of  its  use 
but  the  concentrated  activity,  of  its  intrinsic  worth,  would  be  di- 
minished, and  consequently  its  value  as  a  medium  of  exchano-e^ 
would  be  lost,  for  like  water,  it  would  then  bear  no  exchano-eable 
price  or  luxurious  value.    If  on  the  contrary,  the  public  necessi- 
ties should  demand  the  whole  quantity  of  silver  and  gold,  which 
IS  now  in  existence,  in  the  world,  for  a  currency,  and  the  yearlv 
increase,  be  only  sufficient  to  supply  the  wear  and  tear  of  that  ma. 
tenal :  is  it  not  manifest  that  the  original  object,  and  value,  of 
those  metals  would  be  destroyed,and  a  dependent  utility  substituted 
which  vyould  compensate  for  that  value  which  was  lost.?    If  a  por- 
tion onlv  were  taken,  the  public  would  consent  to  deprive  them- 
selves of  the  utility  of  one  part,  for  another  utility  foreio-n  to  its 
nature.    Before  the  invention  of  saw  mills  driven  by  w^ater  or 
other  natural  forces,  boards  and  planks  were  cut  by  hand,  thus'oc^ 
CLipying  those  intellectual  agents,  which  are  required  in  the  more 
advanced  stages  of  civilization,  for  the  purpose  of  directintr,  rath- 
er than  assisting  production.    The  same  rule  will  apply  to  any  prin- 
ciples of  production.    Merchandise  is  the  first  presentation,  and 
currency  the  natural  agents  of  all  material  wealth. 

Production  without  a  currency,  performs  two  operations,  distri- 
butzott  and  use.    Use  is  its  legitimate  end,  and  money  is  a  mer^ 


mm 


23 

machine,  which  distributes  the  various  productions  to  their  differ- 
ent combinations  without  loss.    It  has  previously  been  shown,  that 
material  in  the  process  of  use,  is  not  generally  required  to  be  bought 
and  sold     Those  portions  of  raw  material  also,  which  are  used  by 
the  producer,  do  not  enter  into  the  general  exchanges  of  trade. 
The  principle  operations  of  commerce,  are  therefore  confined  to 
the  transfer  of  that  quantity  of  raw  material  which  is  not  used  by 
the  producers,  and  the  further  exchange  of  the  more  perfectly 
manufactured  article,  until  it  enters  into  actual  use,  and  is  conse- 
ouently  in  the  process  of  transferring  its  values  into  some  other 
substance     Those  articles  which  are  produced  to  their  full  exteiit, 
and  are  therefore  in  a  stage  of  decay,  are  generally  more  consoli- 
dated than  when  in  the  process  of  production.    Ail  values  are 
made  of  parts,  and  the  more  minute  those  parts,  the  greater  the 
rapidity  of  their  combination  and  consequent  distribution.  Ihe 
combination  of  substances  and  the  increased  exellence  of  their 
form,  is  the  department  of  the  manufacturer,  while  the  merchant 
is  wholly  employed  in  transferring  the  various  values  from  their 
raw,  to  be  converted  into  a  more  highly  manufactured  state,  and 
thence  distributing  them  to  their  difierent  uses,  therefore  the  only 
distinction  between  these  two  branches,  is,  that  the  one  fashions, 
while  the  other  fits,  what  Nature  and  the  agriculturalist  pioduce. 
By  the  fores:oing  deductions,  it  has  been  shown  that  a  national 
irrencv  is  required,  to  transfer  that  portion  of  wealth,  which,  af- 


wealth,  and  by  common  consent,  applied  by  the  public  as  a  gener- 
al representative  of  all  other  values,  as  far  as  its  own  comparative 
value  will  extend.    It  is  also  evident  that  in  the  first  stages  of  so- 
ciety, a  direct  medium  of  exchange  is  not  needed,  and  that  at  the 
commencement  of  a  regular  system  of  barter,  those  values  which 
are  the  most  convenient  for  that  purpose,  are  abstracted  from  the 
general  mass  of  wealth  and  used  as  a  public  currency.     And  also 
that  in  the  more  advanced  stage  of  civilization,  no  one  value  can 
be  found  which  is  fully  equal  to  all  other  exchangeable  values,  and 
therefore  capable  of  representing  them  in  the  market.    It  will 
also  be  perceived,  that  not  only  a  depreciation  takes  place  in  the 
general  mass  of  productive  wealth,  by  directing  a  portion  of  that 
wealth,  to  a  channel  foreign  to  its  real  use,  but  that  the  superior 
fitness  of  gold  and  silver  alone,  for  general  circulation,  denies  the 
competition  of  a  portion  of  other  valmes,  which  would^  otherwise 
be  immediately  adapted  to  that  use,  as  being  in  the  absence  of 
other  agents,  the  most  advantageous  presentation  of  their  value 
to  the  community.  Reasoning  from  the  fact,  that  the  legitimate  use 
of  gold  and  silver  is  suspended,  during  that  time  in  which  it  is  pre- 
sented as  a  coin,  we  may  infer  that  an  article  set  apart  as  a 
currency  does  not  require  in  its  mechanical  operations,  any  of  the 
peculiar  qualities  which  render  those  metals  so  precious  in  a  luxu- 
rious point  of  view. 

The  prosperity  of  those  commercial  nations  who  adopted  a  nomi- 
nal substitute,  for  those  values  which  would  otherwise  have  been 
required  as  a  direct  public  agent,  or  currency  for  the  distribution 


24 


of  all  other  values,  at  the  first  commencement  of  the  bank  system, 
proved  that  an  extension  of  nominal  values,  above  those  abstract- 
ed from  the  general  mass  of  wealth,  was  necessary  to  meet  the 
growing  wants  of  the  commercial  world  ;  but  when  the  benefits 
resulting  from  a  paper  substitute  became  obvious,  the  true  cause 
of  that  prosperity  was  not  inquired  into,  while  enterprising  and 
speculating  members  of  society,  rejected  tlie  actual,  for  the  nomi- 
nal wealth,  and  a  disastrous  reaction  has  taken  place,  which  is  the 
cause  of  all  the  contractions  and  distress  which  now  impedes  the 
general  distribution  of  wealth. 


CHAPTER  VL. 
On  Banks, 

The  establishment  of  banks  in  the  first  instance,  arose  from  no 
concerted  plan,  but  they  were  instituted  rather  as  places  of  deposit 
for  articles  of  value,  which  were  placed  in  their  vaults  for  safe 
keeping,  by  different  members  of  society  indiscriminately.  For 
these  deposits  the  owners  received  a  certificate  ;  and  they  were 
transferred  on  the  books  of  the  bank,  to  different  purchasers,  when 
an  exchange  w^as  required,  without  removing  the  original  values 
from  the  vaults  of  the  bank.  No  interest  was  in  any  case  allowed 
by  the  banks  on  these  deposits.  A  certain  percentage  was  also 
paid  the  banks  on  each  transfer.  These  institutions  were  called 
banks  of  deposit,  and  were  originally  established  in  Venice,  Ham- 
burgh, and  other  cities  of  Europe. 

The  Bank  of  England,  was  tiie  first  bank  of  discount  and  circu- 
lation, which  v^nt  into  successful  operation.  Upon  this  plan, 
all  the  banks  in  the  United  States  are  based,  and  it  is  now 
generally  adopted  in  Europe.  By  a  bank  of  discount  and  circula- 
tion, is  understood,  an  institution  privileged  by  law  to  issue  notes 
of  hand,  redeemable  in  specie  at  sight,  which  pass  as  a  general 
currency,  when  a  deficiency  of  exchangeable  mediums  occur  in 
community.  These  banks  are  permitted  to  issue  from  three  to  five 
dollars  in  bills,  for  one  dollar  in  specie,  deposited  in  the  vaults  of 
the  bank:  thus  increasing  the  facilities  of  distributing  wealth  from 
two  to  four  fold.  For  these  issues,  the  banks  are  held  responsible 
in  some  States,  by  making  the  personal  property  of  the  stockhold- 
ers liable,  for  the  redemption  of  the  bills.  In  other  places,  the 
notes,  bonds,  and  mortgages,  received  as  security  for  the  bills  of 
the  banks,  from  those  individuals  who  have  the  privilege  of  bor- 
rowing money  from  these  institutions,  are  considered  as  a  suflicient 
security  for  the  ultimate  redemption  of  their  issues.  The  distinc- 
tion between  banks  of  deposit,  and  banks  of  discount  and  circula- 
tion, is,  that  the  one  transfers  the  values  in  deposit,  by  a  debt  and 
credit  account  on  the  books  of  the  institution,  while  the  banks  of 
circulation  issue  certificates  of  debt,  which  pass  as  a  general  medi- 
um of  exchange,  and  receive  uncurrent  certificates  in  deposit  at 


m 

f  I...  \.enB^cml  effects,  ^.bich  have  resulted  from  the  adoption  of 
Wnks  of  circulation,  in  the  United  States,  m  preference  to  banks  ot 
d  Sit,  a'e  shown 'in  the  .ncre.s.d  facility,  wh.ch  note,  of^h^^^^^^ 
possess  as  mediums  for  tTansferrinp;a!ues,  over  a  debt  and  c|^^^^^^ 
Lcount  on  the  books'of  a  bank.  It  is  ^f^.'-'^^^^llJ^^^^^^^^^ 
on  political  economy,  that  the  facihties      'f  "^"f  ^ '^'^^r 

Ihe  amount  of  their  deposited  specie  capital,  in      '^'J^  ^"^^^^^ 
advantage  which  ba.ks  of  discount  possess,  ^^^^j, ^^^^^^f.^^^^^^^^^^^ 
of  the  distribution  of  wealth  in  communitv  ;  and  that  he  sub^titu 
tion  of  certificates  of  d'.bt  as  security  for  bills  dt^^^^^^^'  '  \^  if^^ 
cided  improvement  over  the  deposit  of  f  ^^^'^^  ^^^'^^^^^^^^^^ 
tiemandeci  by  the  banks  of  deposit.    It  is  true  that  a  smaller 
.mounf  of  capital  is  deducted  from  its  legitimate  uses,  in  a  bai^k  of 
circulation  than  is    required  in  a  bank  of  deposit,  but  it  must 
;.;so  be  understood  that  all  circulating  mediums  not  possessmg  any 
intrinsic  value  individua]iy,are  now  supposed  to  be  based  "P"  ^ 
value  for  which  they  can  be  exchanged,  at  any  moment  of  P^esen ta- 
tion.    If  then  bank  bills  are  issued  upon  a  specie  basis  iheve  stiould 
be  a  dollar  in  silver  or  gold,  in  the  vaults  ol  the  bank,  for  every 
dollar  in  bills  issued  as  a  currency  to  the  people  l    it  must  be  borne 
in  mind  that  every  paper  dollar  not  actually  based  upon  a  dollai  n 
specie  deposited  in  the  vaults  of  the  Bank,  is  based  on  otner  capital, 
either  exhibited  in  notes,  and  mortgages,  or  such  other  security  as 
the  directors  shall  deem  proper.    At  the  present  time  the  banks 
cannot  transact  a  lesritimaU  hunlimg  business,  to  any  advantage,  un- 
less  they  issue  f\-om^five  to  fifteen  dollars  in  paper,  upon  one  dollar 
in  silver  in  ti^eir  vaults,  as  their  circulation  cannot  be  sustained  m 
public  confidence  during  a  panic  in  the  money  market 

Unon  what  then  are  the  surplus  issues  really  based?  1  hey  are 
hased  upon  the  vrcsumed  capacity  of  individuals  to  return  them  back 
to  the  bank  wif.h  interest,  after  usinsr  them  for  their  own  purposes  in 
trade 'I  What  are  the  profits  of  the  Bank  under  this  regulation  : 
The  bank  profits  under  a  legitimate  system  of  banking,  are  derived 
from  the  interest  received  on  the  surplus  amount  of  bids  issued, Jor 
which  there  is  no  activa  capital  deposited  !  ..1*1 

Money  is  the  nominal  agent  of  actual  wealth  ;  it  is  the  tool,  or 
machine,  by  which  ail  exchanges  are  made.  If  money,  like  any 
other  tool  could  be  distributed  in  the  same  channels  in  which 
trade  flows,  and  be  dependent  for  its  existence,  upon  the  same  basis 
as  is  the  raw  material,  for  the  circulation  of  which  it  is  created, 
there  would  be  no  possibility  of  a  concentration,  or  monopoly  ot 
the  whole  currency  of  the  nation  by  a  few  individuals.  As  the 
law  now  permits  in  the  different  States,  banks  are  chartered,  with 
privilege  of  issuing  from  three  to  five  dollars  of  paper  money, 
ypon  one  dollar  of  silver  deposited,  in  their  vaults.  'iliey  ...n 
issue  from  five  to  fifty  dollars  in  paper  upon  their  nominal  amount 
of  deposits,  and  in  favorable  times  not  only  issue  their  paper  but 
also  the  specie  upon  which  it  is  founded.  What  is  the  result  of 
this  state  of  things  They  are  airaply  these.  Our  country  is  now 
producing  every  year  eight  huiadred  million,  of  agricultural  or 
reproductive  raw  material.  We  require  an  amount  of  the  circulat- 
ing medium  equal  to  half  the  amount  of  raw  material  raised. 
According  to  th(^  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  there  is 

3 


26 


only  eighty  million  of  specie  in  the  country.  Fifty  million  would 
«ome  nearer  the  amount.  Of  this  sum  about  twenty  four  million 
is  in  posserision  of  the  banks  and  brokers,  who  mostly  act  as  their 
agents.  There  are  about  eight  hundred  banks  in  the  United 
States,  and  if  we  allow  an  average  of  tliirty  thousand  dollars  to  be 
contained  in  the  vaults  of  each  institution,  which  is  more  than  a 
fair  average,  we  have  just  twenty  four  million  of  banking  basis. 
We  will  give  them  the  usual  limits  allowed  for  their  issues,  and 
we  have  one  hundred  million  of  paper  money,  afloat  in  communi- 
ty, with  no  other  basis,  than  the  twenty  four  million  of  specie, 
supposed  to  be  lodged  in  the  vaults  of  the  Banks,  in  proportion  to 
their  issues  !  !  Here  we  have  only  one  fourth  of  the  amount  of 
a  necessary  representative  currency  afloat ;  and  let  us  consider 
further,  in  w^hat  channels  is  this  money  diverted.''  Does  it  flow 
freely  through  a  regular  course  of  trade  ?  No  !  Far  from  it.  It  is 
mostly  employed  in  ga^mbling  speculations,  some  of  which,  after 
a  long  course  of  vascillating  success,  have  exploded,  many  are  now 
breaking  around  us,  and  all,  must  be  eventually  crushed  by  their 
own  unwieldy  weight  bearing  heavily  upon  the  sandy  foundation 
on  which  they  are  established.  It  is  not  here  supposed,  how- 
ever, that  the  Banks  do  confine  themselves  to  a  safe,  or  even  le- 
gitimate amount  of  issues.  At  times  thej^  have  extended  to  near- 
ly the  whole  amount  of  currency  necessary  in  the  country,  and 
again  they  have  contracted  to  one  quarter  the  amount  required. 
It  is  not  however  for  a  moment  suggested  tliat  their  bills  have 
been  curtailed  for  any  length  of  time,  to  the  amount  required  by 
law,  on  the  contrary  they  issue  as  much  as  they  can  dispose  of  in 
market. 

The  establishment  of  banks  npon  real  estate  security,  as  a  part 
of  their  nominal  capital  is  a  slight  improvement  in  the  general  bank-* 
ing  laws  of  New  York.  Perhaps,  next  to  dollar  for  dollar,  in  spe- 
cie in  the  vaults  of  a  bank,  for  each  dollar  of  its  issues,  real  estate 
IS  as  safe  as  any  other  security  can  possibly  be,  if  security  alone  is 
required  to  perfect  a  correct  national  financial  system.  This  is  not 
the  only  requirement ;  and  again  if  one  portion  of  tangible  proper- 
ty is  selected  as  a  security  for  a  paper  emission,  all  property  has 
the  same  constitutional  privilege.  All  produced  tangible  values 
aie  considered  by  the  correct  rules  of  political  economy,  to  be  in 
a  state  of  decay  the  moment  they  are  applied  to  any  distinct  use  ; 
gome  are  of  a  rapid,  and  some  of  a  slow  decay,  but  still  the  use 
may  be  termed  the  presage  of  destruction  in  all.  It  will  then  b© 
perceived,  that  if  one  value  has  the  privilege  of  administering  a 
currency  to  a  community,  all  can  demand  the  same  advantage. 
Even  the  very  garments  which  a  person  wears,  are  as  fully  entitled 
to  the  privilege  of  having  a  portion  of  the  national  currency 
founded  upon  them  as  is  a  house,  a  lot  of  land,  or  any  other  arti- 
cle in  actual  use  ;  always  providing  that  a  currency  is  founded  up- 
on the  nominal  price  of  the  article  pledged.  It  may  be  contended 
that  a  suit  of  clothes  would  soon  w-ear  out ! !  This  is  true  :  but  so 
would  a  house,  eventually ,  and  the  utility  of  a  lot  of  la^d,  depends 
entirely  upon  the  labor  bestowed  upon  it,  or  the  convenierice  de- 
rived from  it  for  the  time  being,  and  if  there  is  a  possibility  of 
any  substance  being  liable  to  an  eventual  decay,  upon  which 


S7 


a  currency  is  founded,  it  might  come  as  well  first,  as  last,  the  loss 
would  be  the  same  in  the  result.  ^      ,  .    u^„h<.  nrA  based 

If  you  inquire  what  security,  the  real  -^^^^^^^^ 
uponf  vou  will  be  informed  that  they  are  founded  chiefly  upon 
mortgages  for  a  capital,  and  have    together  with  --tgage  upon 
real  estlte,  mortgages  upon  unreal  estate,  mortgages  «P«^/°^^^^ 
and  mortgWs  u!,o'n  lan'ds,  and  mortgages  ^fj^^^^ 
top-elher     From  this  you  are  bound  to  infer,  if  you  lollow  tne 
on  of  the  reputed' wise  directors  of  finance  ^^TlouldTe 
kffislative  bodies  that  you  have  the  best  security  which  could  be 
offered.    In  a  bill  which  represents  a  mortgage  upon  real  estate 
although  there  may  be  a  certainty  of  a  definite  value,  which  is  not 
the  cas^e  with  the  bills  of  other  institutions,  founded  ^l^f 
mon  principles  of  banking,  there  may  still  be  discovered  the  same 
imperfections  which  attend  the  operation  of  f  ^^'^  ^a^k  representa- 
lives  of  capital,  which  bear  the  same  general  credit     These  are, 
the  concentration  of  the  representative      wealth  within  he  con 
trol  of  the  bank  Directors,  giving  them  the  facility  of  diverting 
the  general  funds,  which  are  created  for  national  use,  into  specu  a- 
tin/channels.    The  limited  and  partial  representation  of  property, 
and  the  adoption  of  the  greatest  deception,  which  modern  banking 
institutions  hold  out  to  the  public,  the  pretence  of   basing  their 
bills  upon  snecie.    The  limited  credit,  which  a  currency  sustains 
in  remote  pkrts  of  the  country,  when  it  is  in  reality  founded  upon 
a  perishable  material  in  any  fixed  location  ;  corisequently  taxing 
the  producing  classes  with  the  depreciation-and  the  danger  of  a 
total  sacrifice  of  the  deposits  of  mortgages,  arid  other  securities 
upon  which  the  banks  are  based,  by  a  run  upon  the  banks  for  specie, 
and  a  consequent  suspension,  implicating  the  property  of  deposi- 
ters  which  must  be  sacrificed,  to  meet  the  deraa^os  of  bill  holderi 
for  ffold  and  silver.  ^    ,   .    .    ^.^  ^. 

The  operations  of  banks  in  the  early  stages  of  their  institution, 
were  fixed  upon  a  more  sure  foundation,  and  were  more  advanta- 
ffeons  to  the  general  interests  of  trade,  than  they  can  possibly  be 
at  this  advanced  period  of  national  wealth,  and  complicated  ex- 
chancres  and  traffic,  consequent  upon  the  production  and  distribu- 
tion of  that  wealth.  At  that  period  they  might  safely  liave  based 
their  issues  upon  a  specie  capital ;  but  let  us  examine  by  a  com- 
parison the  different  results  of  the  influence  of  these  institutiona 
at  different  periods  of  society.  Let  us  suppose  that  ten  men  with 
their  families  emigrate  into  anew  country,  and  we  will  suppose 
they  take  with  them  an  amount  in  specie,  equal  to  all  the  other 
values  which  they  possess.  This  specie  will  buy  and  sell  all  the 
property  of  the  community  at  the  first  stages  of  their  settlement ; 
but  after  a  few  years,  other  values  produced  from  the  soil  increase 
to  such  an  extent,  that  the  specie  is  found  insufiicient  to  perform 
the  office  of  a  medium  of  exchange.  It  stands  in  relation  to  all  the 
values  of  the  community,  as  one  in  a  hundred,  and  one  individual, 
who  perhaps  was  unable,  at  the  first  commencement  of  their  settle- 
ment, to  absorb  more  than  one  fifth  of  the  specie  in  the  communi- 
ty, by  investing  the  whole  amount  of  his  property  in  that  commo- 
dity, can  now  easily  purchase  the  whole;  and  although  specie  mar 
gradually  flow  into  the  bulk  of  the  original  amount,  yet  it  is  found 


28 


more  advantageous  to  invest  actual  values  in  a  productive  employ^ 
ment,than  to  buy  gold  and  silver  to  be  used  as  a  currency  alone  to 
the  full  amount  of  their  domestic  requirements.  They  preter  to 
cramp  their  exchanges  rather  than  their  productive  operatiGns, 
Exchanges  are  continually  growing  more  complicated  with  tne 
increase  of  wealth,  and  the  relative  value  of  gold  and  silver,  are  de- 
creasinu-,  in  proportion,  as  the  general  mass  of  wealth  increases 
over  thl  whole  amount  of  specie,  and  it  is  found  necessary  to  sub- 
stitute some  medium  of  exchange,  which  shall  meet  tne  wants  ot 
community.  It  is  then  propQsed  by  one  of  the  ten  mdividua  s 
who  form  the  settlement,  to  convert  his  property  into  specie,  ab- 
sobinp-  all  that  is  afloat  in  trade,  and  form  a  bank.  This  is  acceed- 
ed  to  by  his  companions,  together  with  a  prompt  exchange  ot  lue 
money  which  had  before  partially  supplied  them  with  a  ^^^'^^^^'Y' 
Here  "then  we  have  the  first  germ  of  a  monopoly,  but  it  will  De 
perceived  that  the  individual  who  has  absorbed  the  whole  amount 
of  currency,  forms  but  a  proportion  to  the  whole  community  as  one 
in  ten.  ile'contmues  his  bank  operations,  issumg^his  bills  to  ins 
nei^rhbors.  giving  three  dollars  of  paper,  for  one  of  silver  or  gold 
capital.    The  community  soon  increase  to  such  an  extent,  that  tne 

tpn  thousand  :   ne  is  sun 


banker  forms  a  unit  in  society  as  one  m  ten  thousand 
enabled  to  absorb  all  the  specie  in  circulation,  for  by 
dollars  in  paper,  for  one  in  specie  banking  capital,  he  can  buy 
the  o-old  and  silver,  and  hoard  it  up,  and  still  have  two  values  out 
of  three  in  circulation  in  community,  based  upon  each  dollar  ab- 
stracted from  the  specie  cii  culat-ion,  actually  given  to  him  out  ot 


enabled  to  absorb  all  the  specie  in  circulation,  for  by  issuing  thre^e 

out 
ab- 

of 

the  pubUc  purse.  He  might  thus  go  on  indefinitely  and  however 
gre^the  qUntHy  of  silver  and  gold  nnght  be,  and  to  wha  ^ 


Ltent  the  popuiauon  might  increase  ;  he  sUll  co.ld  accum«la  e, 
and  coneentr.le,  the  whole  amount  of  representative  cap.tal  nece  - 
sary  to  transact  the  fi.cal  concerns  of  the  coramonUy,  wUhout 
returning  one  dollar  of  actual  wealth  into  the  circulation,  pioduced 
by  these%erations.  The  credit  of  this  establishment  would  be 
good  as  long  as  the  people  forbore  to  demand  specie  for  the  b  il., 
&  would'be  sound,. f  the  cap.tal  is  to  be  used  as  an  .nstru^ 
ment  of  loan  only.  A  capital  of  one  dollar,  '^/"fe'-'^'  .^"""jf 
an  establishment  of  this  kind  upon,  which  '"/i^*;,  <^"fi.j;."'^ 
sorb  all  ihe  produce  of  the  globe,  without  actually  affo  dmg  one 
cent  of  value  in  return,  for  the  i.icrease  of  the  general  mass  of 
wealth,  and  which,  if  required  to  redeem  all  .ts  .ssues,  and  pay  a" 
its  dehL,  would  sink  into  the  original  nothingness,  from  vvlience 

"  U  is  b^;  the  agency  of  the  pledge,  or  guarantee,  which  a  charter 
to  a  bank  is  supl.osed  to  give  the  public,  by  ensuring  a  J  die  ou. 
supervision  over  its  aifiurs,  that  the  notes  of  these 
pass  current.  This  pubUc  pledge  might  '"toneitv^ 
to  the  notes  of  individuals,  given  upon  good  secur..y  P'°Pf'^|. 
until  all  the  active  wealth  of  the  country,  and  ^^e"  . ..Y^ol^ 
capacity  of  the  people  for  production,  was  '''P^^'^"  f,'' ° 
notes,  such  as  form  the  paper  c.rculat.ng  med.um  at  the  Present 
time.  This  would  merely  extend  the  present  system,  to  a  just 
diTtribut.on  of  the  represc-ntative  of  wealth,  to  all  Producers  - 
discriminately.    If  bank  notes  issued  upon  individual  responsibih- 


29 


lies,  under  the  sanction  of  a  State  charter,  pass  current  as  a 
medium  of  exchange,  and  connmand  an  interest  of  six  per  cent 
annually,  which  interest  is  drawn  from  the  public  at  large,  without 
rendering  an  equivalent,  which  requires  a  corresponding  amount 
of  labor  to  produce,  then  why  is  not  every  individual  in  communi- 
ty, holding  responsible  property,  entitled  to  receive  the  State 
sanction,  and  share  in  the  profits  of  these  issues?  They  certainly 
are  entitled  to  this  privilege,  and  the  opportunity  offered  by  this 
favorable  investment  of  capital,  either  directly  or  indirectly  to 
reap  unearned  profits,  has  caused  the  energies  of  the  country  to 
be  centered  chiefly  upon  banking  speculations,  and  trade  connect- 
ed with  thern,  leaving  very  few  producers,  while  the  country 
swarms  with  distributers  and  destroyers  of  wealth.  Opulent 
farmers  who  formerly  brought  their  sons  up  to  the  honorable  occu- 
pation of  tilling  the  earth,  have  for  a  few  years  past,  not  only 
preferred  the  subservient  employment  of  clerks  for  their  youth, 
but  have  also  diverted  a  large  portion  of  their  capital,  to  the  great 
chaos  of  speculation  and  destruction,  afforded  by  cities  fostered  by 
banks. 

There  are  about  eight  hundred  banks  in  existence  in  the  United 
States  at  the  present  time,  the  issues  of  which  are  secured  or  sup- 
posed to  be  secured,  by  pledged  capital,  the  fanciful  value  of  which 
is  equal  to  three  or  four  times  the  amount  of  their  bills  in  circular 
tion.  This  circulation  is  based,  or  pretended  to  be  based,  upon 
about  eight  per  cent  of  these  issues  in  specie  capital  lodged  in  the 
vaults  of  the  banks,  by  which  the  bills  are  to  be  redeemed,  or 
measured  in  value.  In  times  of  prosperity,  the  distribution  of 
wealth  in  the  United  States,  requires  in  active  circulation  a  cur- 
rency of  about  four  hundred  million  of  dollars.  At  the  present 
time,  there  is  not  eighty  million  in  operation,  as  a  general  medium 
of  exchange.  If  four  hundred  million  of  bank  bills  are  in  circu- 
lation, about  thirty  million  of  specie  is  supposed  to  be  deposited. 
Now,  the  circulation  is  eighty  million,  for  which  about  six  or  seven 
million  of  specie  is  placed  in  the  vaults  of  the  specie  paying  banks. 

It  must  be  understood  in  this  review,  that  what  is  termed  capital 
stock,  is  money  belonging  to  stockholders,  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  bank  directors  as  collateral  security  to  bill  holders,  to  be  loaned 
out  again  to  the  best  advantage.  After  all  expenses  and  losses  of 
the  banks  are  paid,  the  stockholders  are  entitled  to  a  share  in  the 
surplus  profits  of  the  paper  isues,  if  any  remain.  It  is  rare  in  the 
local  bank  system  that  any  accrue,  so  that  the  stockholders  ar« 
mere  responsibilities  in  the  hands  of  the  bank  officers,  to  shield 
theni  and  their  favorites  in  their  operations  upon  the  public.  One 
million  of  dollars  of  the  stock  or  bills  of  one  bank,  can  be  made 
subservient  as  the  capital  stock  of  five  hundred  banks.  Jt  may  be 
loaned  and  reloaned  indefinitely,  leaving  notes  of  responsible  indi- 
viduals in  the  vaults  of  each  bank,  at  every  transfer.  These  notes 
merely  pay  the  interest  of  the  deposits  of  the  stockholders  ;  the 
income  of  the  bank  must  therefore  in  the  event,  result  from  about 
eighty  per  cent  of  profit  made  upon  the  superfluous  issues  of  notes, 
based  upon  a  small  amount  of  silver  deposited  in  vaults  of  the  in- 
stitution. 

It  has  already  been  shown  that  the  intensity  of  the  value  ol 
3* 


30 


limits  its  production.  The  value  of  specie,  being  dependent 
specie,  limits  Its  proau  .^^^^^^^^      ^^^^^  ^ 

rr^tre'  rreu'he  greatest  use  for  it  as  plate,  ornament,  and 
°*The'"nden"ation  of  wealth,  exists  to  a  much  greater  extent  in 

f  M  nle  .  a  uL  raw  material  which  the  producing  energy  of  the 
%-"'T.fnk;  Wd'bf  e"mtoHe'd  t^SfthirTe-oi^or^: tlL 

ritriiuttiip'^ 

tn:n;:St:^v*r«e^^^ 

^''"-r^'Ahi  wf.o%Tm~:2,fb  tn -creased 
K;  o7oVaVa~Tates  a  large  quantity  of  !li-;^^specie^^  and 

=]x:^ntisraK^« 
-';?:?!^MhV"se^r;;?'drfi-omthrfir:^^ 

S^uIsTsuffictat  'sjecie  to  base  a  second  bank  upon,  and  so  on  inde- 


31 


finitely  Jeaving  each  succeeding  bank  to  replenish  their  vaults  with 
coin  as  tliey  can  procure  it.  It  will  therefore  be  perceived  that  no 
one  bank  can  rnonopohze  this  enormous  interest.  And  also  it  is 
fh»  ^V"""^  individuals  may  engage  in  this  business,  that 

be  expenses  of  supervising,  buildings,  and  other  charges,  will  in 
the  end,  eat  up  the  profits.  "  ' 

n  rn^fll^'"!-  P'-^^";"'^ wi  1 1  be  perceived,  that  a  bank  having 
.inn'^f  I  dollars  paid  in,  and  a  circula- 

-  tion  of  MS  own  t>i  Is  arriou.iiirig  loone  hundred  ihousand,  Wrf  upon 
d  specie  deposit  of  eight  thou.^and,  would  have  a  clear  eain  of  the 
jnterest  of  ninely  two  thousand  dollars,  equal  to  five  thousand  five 
huncli  ed  and  i  wen.y  dollars.  We  have  a 'circulation  of  bill  s  fi  o™ 
ti  e  eight  hiindied  banks  in  the  Uniled  Slates,  of  about  eighty  mi™ 
lon  Upon  this  circulation,  producers  pay  an  interest  of  four  mil- 
honfour  hundred  and  sixtcnc  thousand  doUars,  for  which  the  baX 
vmual^v  render  no  equivalent  whatever.  Wei'e  the  whole  capa  ty 
of  toe  producing  energy  of  the  country  represented  by  these  issues 

ITnf  "i^'i"Kq"anmy  of  gold  and  silver  as  a  mea! 

suie  of  value     The  interest  obiained  by  those  institutions  which 
are  chartered  by  the  ditrerent  States,  or^the  nation,  Tm-ike  paper 
ssues  vvhich  pass  as  a  currency  or  transferring  medium    is  akr 
hmued  !    We  will  suppose  that^ll  the  propert?        ti  e  ua  on  i 

rency,  be  it  issued  by  one  or  more  banks.     To  accomni  sh  ?h U 
pledge,  et  every  individual  in  community  alternately  convert  „ 
specie,  tne  whole  amount  of  his  proportv.    This  may  be  pLced  i 
he  bank  one  day  and  drawn  out  as  loans  the  next,  to  be  aoain  di" 
ributed  into  bank  stock.    If  one  bank  only  is  chartered^  in  tb, 
Unued  Sl^te,   every  individual  in  society  ,.-an  own  stock  in  it  b 

'l7  f  "  t  Y  f'-'"  '''"'^  r>^kole  people  can  sti  . 

ho  d  stock  to  the  whole  amount  of  their  property.  If  one  ba  k 
only  ,s  chartered  on  this  plan,  the  expense  of  siistai'ning  and  directing 
that  bank,  must  first  be  ],a,d  from  the  twenty  four  niiUion  of  interest 
money  derived  from  the  paper  circulation,Vnd  the  re;idu{  div  ded 
among  the        e  according  to  the  whole  amount  of  the  rpro- 

perty.  If  e.ght  hundred  banks  are  chartered,  the  expenses  of  Lht 
hundred  hanks  -^re  first  to  be  paid  from  the  twenty  four  mi^  i,3f 
interest  before  a  dividend  can  be  made  among  tL  stocSders - 
t  wil  therefore  be  perceived  that  a  limitation  tf  the  .W-  Irf™ 
the  rates  of  dwidend.  As  the  amount  of  stock  required  as  s.curitv 
for  the  bills  issued  by  banks,  is  decreased  in  proportion  to  t  ^ 
amount  of  their  is.^ues,  so  is  the  value  of  that  sloei  iLreasrd  to  e 
stoekholders,  and  the  seeurity  of  the  lills  decreased  toTHi^'  if 
one  or  more  banks  are  chartered,  and  the  stock  limited   Hie  v'alue 

es  the  H  °f  '''f  »^       ^"'•P'"-^  in  ere  Tncrcas! 

es  the  dividends,  over  the  egal  interest  of  the  country.  If  the 
Block  of  one  or  more  hanks,  is  public  and  unlimited  the  hills 
would  be  more  secure,  hut  the  business  of  the  bank"  would  l  ecome 
more  complicated,  by  the  amount  of  loans  wl. i'crwould  p^ss 


32 

throu"!.  the  lian<l.  of  the  directors,  while  the  los.es  rvhich  would 

at  tm°es  result  from  these  cnmbersonie  iransact.ons  wo.  Id  be  de- 
duced f  om  th^.  general  dividend,  wHiiout  an  equna  ent !  ! 

If  ei.-  n  hundred  banks  .re  established,  and  no  i^ecuhar  advantage 
Jntedwa  V  one  particular  in.utuiion,olher  than  that  acquired 
iy^"  :atK,nan^.rade^tw,ll  be  perceived  that  a  struggle  must  en^^^^^^ 
Imon"  these  institutions  for  the  greatest  share  oi  those  piotits 
whicif  "  h  from  an  extended  paper  crcula.ion  Jhe  premmm 
noon  exchanoes,  is  the  result  of  the  maneuvers  of  the  local  banks 
to  tax  the  pubhc,  and  crau.p  the  circulal.on  of  the  issues  of  distant 
Lai  banks,  in  thei-'  "^n  v.cinity,  in  order  to  fill  the  vacancy  wtth 
local  oanKs,  in  I  accomplish  bv  refusing  the  bills,  of 

*di:!LtTnst":  t:ns,  in  pavnt^nt  of  no^svvhich  they  have  discount 
ed  vvi'hout  a  ruinous  deduction  from  their  norrnnal  value.  These 
buis  a  8  hen  passed  to  their  broker,  who  receives  perhaps  more 
^han  Ureir  nomiLl  value  by  a  second  transfer  tn  the  course  of 

"''lll'cf^'equence  of  the  restriction  of  the  stock  of  the  banks  a 
lar ie  nortfon  of  the  wealth  of  the  commvinity  stands  readv  to  enter 
ntf  banking  speculations,  and  is  only  restrained  by  the  dange  of 
a  sacrifice  of  Hie  stock  by  too  great  a  competition  among  the  baniiS, 
and  a  consequent  increase  of  The  danger  of  injudicious  loans. 

rcomMor.mr.       ™lom.l  ta»k...nd  it  1.  .1.0  .  r„l.  ..th 

Ji?;e  to  ji/ieert  c  complaint  among  our  banks  is,  that 

Ti  'luis'^  '^ret^r^o  Utem  I  specie  bffore  they  circulate 
.ufficientlv  to  rive  them  any  opportunity  of  being  lost ! 

s  evidenr  that  a  papeV  circulating  medium  is  necessary,  and 
also  that  It  should  be  measured  in  price  by  gold  and  silver,  or  some 
o  her  arVicle  of  wealth  of  slow  use,  and  of  an  intense  primitive 
vtlne  And  it  is  also  true,  if  we  are  compelled  to  depend  on  banks 
of  dfsco^  and  cr,culation  to  provide  this  medium,  that  it  is  much 
better  to  have  one  bank  with  branches,  than  eight  or  nine  hundred 
and  eonf^cting  «st.ut^^^^^^^    But  w  ii  ^  X^^-toT. 

Tarater'  hove  a^routd  all  inSions  chartered  with  the  privi- 
tZ  nowr^oZr>o\ized  by  banks,  and  that  while  a  partial  p  os- 
S  at>^nds"heir  operations  during  the  first  stages  of  commerce, 
thTv  stui  contain  seeds  of  evil  which  must  eventuate  in  their  de- 
struc^on  These  evils  present  themselves  in  two  distinct  forms, 
and  deny  their  issues  the  character  of  a  <:«"  ««'^y-  ,  ,  .,,  ^5,6 
First  Bv  permitting  the  banks  to  issue  surplus  bills  on  ine 
„oWZ  valVo^  propefty,  which  is  still  held  and  used  by  the 


33 


stitutions,  thereby  enabling  those  connected  with  the  banks  to 
obtau,  tiie  direction  and  untaxed  use  of  all  the  circula  no  medfu  u 
of  the  country,  wuhout  buying  or  hireing  it ;  and  deleo^trs:  tl  e 
a  few  ind    'J'T^/"'',""!'''''^'"^^"'  °f  to  the^charVof 

turned  in  bm    :/"  f  '^"''^"^^  of  loaning  it  out  to  b^e  re- 

turned  in  bi  Is  of  a  similar  character  on  a  certain  dav  i  This 
general  restriction  upon  the  free  circulation  of  a ZdiL  of  ex- 
change to  Its  uses  indefinitely  .denies  it  the  character  of  a  cur."  ney 
-  ind  T  ^''o.stantly  liable  to  be  withdrawn  from  its  <renera  uses' 
and  centered  ,n  any  desired  channel,  or  wholly  deniedto  the  nublic' 

hTst'iev'  :/'rd  tho^se  who  b'ofrow' 

se  vient  to  "hei'^  =  t/'enrselyes  to  return  it,  are  rendered  sub- 
'^4  '    Tl'^r'"?'''"'  "'"^'■^l''"'^-    Bank  notes  therefore  are 

T„T  f  PC'  torm  the  duty  of  a  cur- 

rency  for  a  currency  must  be  bought  Ld  sold  in  com  n^inity  as  is 

illiTer""  ^^"'"-'--y  or  indirect  restrictions  Tpol 

Secondly.    A  currency  is  only  required  to  buy  and  sell  that  nnr 

de^tr  ft  on    n  th  '  ^'''^  '"^l^^'-^  ^^'^  ^^^^^i^m  caused  by  use  or 

destrution,  m  the  necessary  transfer  of  values.     Thfrehre  a  cur r el 

proauccd,  and  u  izch  is  reqmred  to  he  transferred  in  trade  !  ' 

n  there  IS  not  a  portion  of  raw  material  raised  to  fill  the  vacuum 

cTrfe-n;^  i^nr'U"  e^^S't  r^^l 

T^ZTcl':}':^^^^^^^^ 

currency  ,s  founded  upon  the^ioi^na? '^ce'L-  p  S 

restrictions  are  placed  upon  banks  to  nrevent 
'^"''"f""'  "^"'^  values,  upon  the 'credit  of  whiKir 
nei  rer  a're  Z.")  "  7'^ V°™P'^ ^'-m  to  continne^^ZZ^, 

cnJrtL^;:-d:r'i^^;^ 

rrr"::l;dinft:  t     t^^^r'  St 

that  they  cannot  be  dentified  Wh',f  r.l..-  S  ^"  "icinuraciuie, 
afford  pi^oductions  that  ca:,'be  iTnllfi^^r  if  mT b^  u^he'sU? 
t]n<T]y  answered,  THE  FARMFRm  ^u..  \y  unnesita- 
who Ln,  ..A  tke  possesIJ:^^^^,^^'^^,:^ ^^l^^/^ 

Classes  oj  society.  Vhe  soil  alone,  is  the  only  machine  lohirh  en« 
vary  Us  production,  and  is  capable  of  impro.enLt  i't  consegentTy 


34 


the  Farmers  are  the  ordy  class  of  P™'^"'^'''-^,"'''"  "^"^^t^ciftf  7« 

of  the  distributer  and  noii-prodncer.     1  he  reveise  na»  aivv  , 
'"Xhrefore  in  behalf  of  the  rights  of  „,an  and  'h;wf  a-  ^-^i 

Tor^f^Vilf^Tlrfh^oTr 

for  the  greatest  evils! 


CHAPTER  Vn.* 
Kemedrj. 

mmmm 

•'■g-^r  :'r 

shall  pledge  his  farm  to  produce  upou  an  ,  •„(.' 

amount  in  value  of  raw  material,  upon  the  appnzal  ot  wh;<''^'»« 


35 

Secondly  the  farmer  shall  ri'turn  a  small  percentnffe  of  these  bills 
he       I'l^L  t'!\''^P<'"«''«  of  ll'e  institution  Thirdly 

he  shall  be  bound  to  furnish  within  a  certain  time,  not  less  than 
one  per  cent,  and  not  more  than  ten  per  cent  of  specie,  to  be  de" 
posited  .n  the  vanlts  of  the  instit.uion.  to  redeem  the  bills  if  neces- 

Fourthlv^^Tt  nffl ''""'"r  value  for  the  currency. 

*ourthly.    The  officers  of  these  institutions  shall  be  elected 

Sartrb''' '^"'i*'',"'''^^*  "'"^  valuations  of  the 
larms  are  to  be  revised,  and  the  currency  enlarged  or  contracted 
according  to  the  productions  of  the  soil  °  contracted, 

nrfrini'J^'r^''°"?i.''"'""^'''''''"''^'"'vethe  representative  of  the 
I     °'^.™<"<^  then  a  certain  limited  number  of  acres,  wh  ch 
shall  be  designated  by  the  Legislature  of  each  State.  ' 
toixtlily.    These  bi  I  Is  should  be  made  legal  tender  for  debt  I 

CONCLUDING  REiVIARKS. 
The  cause  of  the  present  distress  of  our  country  may  therefore 

Scatimf ;  "The       '"T"'!r  perverted  a" 

r„^n,  h     f  ^  ^°  •^^"P  '""'"^y  without  bein-r  re- 

offer  of  sun^'/'n'"""'  "'"^  '""""^  t''"  P'''<i"cer  by"  the 

otter  of  superficial  loans,  to  suspend  his  ieaitimaie  business  and 

rhirds'of  l"""'  ^r'^""     "'^  °f  the  count"  'Two 

thirds  of  our  population  have  theref„re  become  dependent  on  the 

tZj  '  P'",f''''^.  the  remaining  third.  The  productions  of  t l  is 
third  has  been  directed  into  limited  speculating"  channels  and  we 
have  now  a  few  staples,  such  as  cotton,  flou?,  pork"  corn  and 
lumber  m  abundance,but  nothing  else.  We  are  in  debt  to 
they  do  no  want  our  staples  to  the  full  amount  of  the  deb  and 
nothing  but  specie  will  supply  ihe  deficiency.  The  banks  cannot 
^°Zh  l':""'°"'^y'>^  formerly,  for  there  is  nothing  producerin 
which  the  borrowers  can  speculate  to  advantac^e.  and  consequent  v 

Jlirf!'/  'T'^'^'"^      ""P'ofil^ble'channels  S"? 

reach  of  the  borrowers  fiom  whence  it  will  be  returned  to  the  bank^ 

wherTW!irb^o:t7oTe^cr^7"^--'  "^^^^'^ 

mlf  :tir  "ofmat    tT£r:„:fe  X:::.!-^::  ^ 

.alutary  effects  produced  by  revolutions  when '^^^nderiaken'^l^  the 
prrr^y  Thi  ^".-'P'-'  whether  they  affect  either  persons  or 
einh  wa,  Jro  J  7""  Geology,  teaches  that  at  one  time  the 
eaitn  was  a  confused  mass  of  crude  matter,  inhabited  bv  animals 

fL"an  "!.''"''?""''^.''""'^"''«°^^^<"d  with  a  growlh\TZ7e 
fern,  and  other  imperfectly  formed  planls.    Gradually  Volcanfa 

the  :u"rfacTlf^'tli;r-yb^"^''-'.^  'h''"'  produc\Zs,  uphft  nj 
pressing  ?t„  fL  ^"th,  forming  hills  and  mountains,  or  de- 
pressing Its  f,ice  in  valleys  and  receptacles  for  oceans  and  seas 
lerp  n"'  P'-°^'=t'""«  of  the  vegetable  kingdom  as  now  existfn^" 
aVI  P''<"i."<^ed;  animals  of  a  more  perfect  form  creal' 
rir.^'^  surface  of  the  Globe  fitted,  as  V  abode  of  man 
From  that  period  the  machinery  of  visible  Nature  has  beenTm" 
perceptibly  producing  perfect  "border,    vl^^os  and  ear  hq"aL« 

uong  ot  ihe  earth,  acquired  increased  value  and  perfection  by 


86 

bultivation,  to  the  exclusion  of  those  which  wefe  ii03[i0US 
useless. 

The  argument  drawn  from  this  theory  is,  that  there  is  a  perfect 
analogy  between  all  those  principles  of  Nature  which  have  a  ma^ 
terial  action.  Society  now  occupies  the  same  position  in  its  civil 
organization,  to  a  more  perfect  system  for  the  regulation  of 
social  rights  and  liberty,  as  did  the  primitive  world,  with  its  v;ild 
productions,  to  the  earth  as  at  present  peopled  and  arranged  ;  and 
v/e  have  just  the  same  certainty  of  the  ultimate  perfection  of  our 
financial  laws,  and  perverted  representative  capital,  as  we  have 
that  the  earth  itself,  has  attained  its  present  harmonious  order,  after 
a  preparatory  course  of  stupendous  chemical  convulsions. 

All  men  are  born  v/iih  talents,  v/hich  require  a  peculiar  course  of 
education,  fitted  to  the  capacity  of  each  individual  mind,  to  culti-^ 
Tate  and  render  useful  in  those  spheres  in  which  the»y  are  intended 
by  Nature  to  move.  The  amount  of  degraded  intellect  now  incor- 
porated with  community,  is  a  subject  which  demands  the  consider- 
ation of  every  thinking  man  of  the  age.  Why  has  this  mass  of 
intellect  been  perverted.^  It  is  here  contended,  that  the  present 
concentration  of  power  in  useless  national  aristocracies  or  irrespon- 
sible monied  monopolies,  f3rms  a  nucleus  around  which  hover  the 
comparatively  weak  individual  men^bers  of  society.  Tiie  greater 
the  condensation  of  power  in  the  iqv7,  the  more  of  strength  is  ab- 
stracted from  the  mass  of  population  ;  the  progress  of  healthy  com» 
petition  is  obstructed,  and  the  decline  of  one  class  of  community  j 
always  ensues  in  ratio  with  the  advancement  of  the  other,  it 
is  now  the  morning  of  a  great  revolution,  a  revolution  of  mind 
a§  well  as  physical  action  1  ¥/e  have  too  long  neglected  the  duty 
of  supervising  our  national  financial  affairs,  and  too  much  of 
public  liberty  has  already  been  sacrificed  upon  the  corrupt  self  in- 
terested premises,established  by  those  whom  the  people  have  blindly 
trusted.  The  time  has  come  for  each  individual  to  think  for  him- 
self, and  that  thought  should  not  only  be  well  considered  but  bold- 
ly expressed  !  A  remedy  must  be  provided  for  the  evils  which  are 
nov^  paralyzing  the  energies  of  the  nation,  or  we  must  expect  a 
revolution  "proportioned  in  the  severity  of  i'-^s  results,  to  the  increas- 
ing magnitude  of  those  pernicious  operations  which  will  eventual- 
ly call  it  into  action. 

It  is  not  here  contended  for  a  moment,  that  the  gains  of  an  in- 
dividual, as  long  as  sanctioned  by  lav/,  however  unjust  that  law 
may  be,  are  not~as  clearly  and  substantially  his  own  property,  a& 
if  he  had  procured  them  under  the  supervision  of  the  most 
equable  lav/s,  but  it  is  contended  and  emphatically  repeated,  that 
the  lav/s  under  v/hich  eur  present  banking  institutions  are 
chartered,  are  unji'st  and  partial.  Recind  these  j  adopt  a  more 
correct  system  of  distributing  the  nominal  representative  of 
wealth,  to  the  producers  of  that  wealth,  upon  which  the  rep- 
resentative is  founded ;  then  an  honorable  channel  of  equal 
competition  will  be  opened,  and  then,  and  not  till  then,  will  revo- 
lutions, as  an  exciting  cause  for  national  disenthralment  be  obviat- 
ed, and  the  advancement  of  the  civilized  v/orld,  be  based  upon  the 
sure  foundation,  of  protected  individual  enterprise,  applied  to  re- 
productive objects, and  rewarded  and  encouraged  genius,produeing 
tintaxed  ofieringSy  for  the  promotion  of  science  and  art. 


332 


-NivEWTY  or 

•Ll-tNOiS  LISRAFT 
AT  URBANA-CHAMP^IGr 
eoOKSTACKS 


I 


